Till Death Do Us Part - Birds That Mate For Life

[MrsKay]

Someone posted a thread a while back about Crows (magpies) which got me to thinking about how they mate for life and how extremely civilized I think that is.
For years I have watched a pair of black Crows on my property. They take care of each other so well. They warn each other of danger, eat together, bathe together, all year. The human species has something to learn from these awesome creatures
I came across this article in the Audubon Magazine and thought it was interesting.

Till Death Do Us Part: Birds that Mate for Life | Audubon Magazine

 

[Kalidasa]

Lol mate until someone better comes along....recent studies (observation, and DNA testing) proves that "monogamous" birds cheat, and cheat often...as much as 50% of offspring from monogamous couples are from fathers other than the selected mate. (Call Maury Povich) Males will mate with anything, even cow-dung. And it's been observed that as soon as the male leaves the nest to hunt, the female will very often entertain other males in the very nest that the male helped build.
Break ups, and partner swapping are common....I don't thin this makes them less intelligent, but much, much more. Opportunistic behavior is a hallmark of high intelligence and self-awareness (what's better for ME)

 

[RavensGryf]

Interesting. I've heard about the cheating in monogamous birds, but I wasn't sure how frequently it happened.

Since birds (creatures of higher intelligence) have such individual personalities, I do wonder if certain male (birds) in the population are less likely than others, and some more likely than others to stray?

 

[Kiwibird]

Interesting that it says scarlet macaws reach sexual maturity between 3 and 4. I always thought it was much older(?). Perhaps that is just in captivity and they reach it earlier in nature?

I think birds (any "monogamous" animal really) are very similar to us. A good majority stay together for a very long time (life) but some individuals do "cheat" or "divorce" altogether. It makes sense actually (biologically speaking). Greater genetic diversity for the species...

 

[Birdman666]

First of all ALL macaws are pair bond birds... and I believe maturity is actually around 7-ish. Conures are also pair bond birds. As are all amazons.

People assume all parrots mate for life. Not true. CAGS, Eckies, and Toos are all flock birds. They trade partners all the time. So, some of that may be misinformation. Pair bond birds generally don't cheat.

If you've ever watched the wild birds in Brazil, Venezuela or Peru, when you see flocks of macaws flying, they are almost always flying two by two... just like the crows.

And in captivity, I can tell you first hand, from my birds (which have mainly been the pair bond birds) when you trigger that bond, they are DEVOTED... but OMG can they be jealous birds!

 

[BACON]

The vasa parrot is pretty clever in this (can't say I agree with it tho ) the female mates with several different males. The plus side to this..... As none of them know who The father is, they all help to raise the offspring/feed the mother while she's sitting!!!

Also, I find white storks interesting. These birds also 'mate for life' but are only together during the breeding season. After that they head off in their own direction.
When the breeding season is starting, the male will arrive at the nest a week or so before the female, tidy it and make it ready for her arrival (men folk, don't get conned into this ) they then wait for the females to arrive, hence all the show boating/dancing. Firstly it's to see if it's actually who they say they are, then to strengthen the bond between them.

I guess there are many more interesting stories about this. The animal/bird kingdom certainly is interesting!!!!

 

[Jayyj]

I noticed with bald eagles this summer, i never saw two together but every time I saw one, I'd see another within a few minutes. So they were clearly in pairs but never in each other's company.