Hello from indonesia

Hello and Happy New Year everyone. I would like to introduce myself as a parrots lover/hobbyist living in Indonesia. I have 2 pairs of Congo African Grey, 1 pair of Eastern Rosella, 1 breeding pair of Indian Ring-Necked, 1 breeding pair of Purple-naped Lory and 1 pair of Lutino Red-fronted Kakariki.

One of my Af-Grey is a breeding pair which has produced several clutches in 3 yrs. But recently, the female of this pair died suddenly. I am planning to pair with a new female, but I was told that a bonded/breeding pair when one of the mate died is very difficult to pair again with a new mate. Is it true ???

Thank you and regards,
Win88

Welcome
Sorry about your loss
Sure members who breed will be able to answer your question
Enjoy the forum

Welcome to Parrot Forums!


Contrary to popular belief, parrots don't "mate for life". They do form strong bonds and may remain with a mate for several years, but they can still have "divorces" or repair when their mate dies. Some parrots may even have several mates, and their mates also have other mates.

It may be difficult to pair him up with a new hen, or it might be a breeze. You wont know until you get another hen.



Sorry to hear you lost the hen! Do you know why? If you don't know why she died, I'd be concerned about introducing more birds into the flock if she was sick with something.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet, parrots do mate for life. That said most will take another mate, especially if you picked their mate for them or there was a limited pool of available mates. The most successful pairs of CAGs are allowed to pick their own mates. In a perfect world you'd have a friend who has unpaired hens in a large flight, add your male and see who pick who. Yes i would find another hen and see what happens.But intro them both in a new cage ,not the old one.

Just a few examples....

Kakapo - largest parrot in the world - has one night stands
The Fabulous Kakapo (Strigops Habroptilus)

Ececltus - polygamous
Evolution of the Enigmatic Eclectus – Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
eclectus parrot Page 2.

Kea - polygamous
The 'Bird Lady' Parrot Training System!

Vasa - polygamous
https://sites.google.com/site/kawaldie/breedingsystem

Golden conures apparently have communal nests
Animal of the Week: Golden Conure | Phoenix Zoo Blog

Budgerigars have been seen to be both monogomous as well as polygamous...
Reproduction from Animal Diversity Web - Encyclopedia of Life

Looks like polygamy has been seen in sun conures? (don't have access to article)
Polygamy in the Sun conure - SEIBELS - 2007 - International Zoo Yearbook - Wiley Online Library



Just because a species is monogomous doesn't mean they mate for life. Birds can, and do, have "divorces" or two males may fight over an already bonded hen (to one of the males). The winning male may then take the hen. May not be scientific/natural, but Mark Bittner has seen this behavior in the cherry headed conures of Telegraph Hill. And if a bird loses a mate, they'll find a new one - since some people think that if a bird loses their mate, the bird will die of loneliness or wont ever pair up with another bird.
Parrots on Telegraph Hill - FoundSF


I'm not saying that parrots *can't* mate for life, because I believe they can... but to say that *all* parrots mate for life is essentially taking information that you've heard somewhere and believing it at face value without actually questioning it and finding out the truth.



David Attenborough has a great piece on the mating behaviors of wild eclectus in his DVD Collection - Australia: Land of Parrots
The Australian Film Institute | Land of the Parrots