Reactions of nomadic and resident parrot species

Abstract

The exploratory behaviour of six species of lorikeet (Loriini) and four species of broad‐tailed parrot (Platycercini), which differ in their migratory behaviour, was tested to investigate whether residents and nomads show different reactions to environmental enrichment. For each species, seven pairs of birds were tested in a familiar aviary. The test was performed on 2 days, separated by a resting period of 2 days. Three unknown objects were brought into the aviary for 24 hours on day 1 and 6 hours on day 2. The results showed that more resident birds contacted the objects than nomadic birds and that residents showed shorter latencies until first contact than nomads. No differences between groups occurred in the duration of exploration but there was a positive correlation between duration of exploration and the tendency of the species to exhibit plucking behaviour. The results suggest that object presentation is a useful tool in supporting activity in resident as well as nomadic Psittacidae.