New study elucidates the social world of parrots

Scientists have provided intriguing new insights into parrot sociality, unravelling a sophisticated social structure with layers of relationships and complex interactions.
With their unusually large brains relative to their body size and advanced cognition, parrots live in a complex social environment - not merely in a large population of cooperating creatures, such as bees or ants, but in a dynamic setting of alliances and competitors.
Researchers observed both wild monk parakeets in Argentina and captive ones in Florida to test several common but largely untested assumptions about parrot sociality.
Because parrots are often observed flying in pairs in the wild, one assumption is that parrot sociality revolves around the pair bond.

Coupling the extensive field study with in-depth network analyses showed that parrots - at least those in captive groups - do show a strong preference for associating with a specific individual and are usually found nearby their mate.
The social networks of captive groups were highly connected with very strong associations with one or two other individuals, multiple moderate associates, and only a few weak associates.

The new research demonstrates that the pair is indeed the fundamental unit of monk parakeet social structure, but additional tiers of social structure, akin to social levels documented in elephants, sea lions, and dolphins, may also be present.

In addition to these positive social relationships, captive monk parakeet groups were also structured by aggression.
Researchers used observations of winners and losers in aggressive encounters to assign individual parakeets a dominance rank.
The new research shows that the social lives of monk parakeets are structured by several types of relationships.
In order for individuals to recognise where they fit in to the social structure of their group, they would need to recognise and remember others in their group, to remember how they interacted with specific individuals, and to remember the outcomes of those interactions. Managing this process may require significant cognitive skills.

"Understanding the social systems of parrots is critical to understanding social processes, such as vocal learning and the spread of behaviours, and can also give us greater insight into how social and cognitive complexity evolved in other species," said lead author Elizabeth Hobson, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.