The Monk Parrot in the family Psittacidae and breed in colonies. Monk Parrot mates form very strong pair bonds. When breeding season begins, the males being begging displays, mutual preening, and beak crossing. The female will pick a mate based on the quality of their display. They use twigs and branches to create communal nests in which all members of a colony can breed. The nests is one large nests with many different entrances and areas for each pair. An average clutch consists of 5 - 8 eggs with two broods per season. The eggs incubate for about 24 days and then are raised by both the male and female. The offspring are born altricial. About 40 to 50 days later the chicks will be self- sufficient but stay in the same communal nest. All members of the nest including the chicks help out with the nest’s maintenance and contribute to the community.
I wonder how the nest looks like with so many different entrances. They must have a good number of predators for which they have this many entrances.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy that they all share a communal nest. This type of cooperation among the species seems to be more efficient, maybe other species should take a page out of the Monk Parrot's book.
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