Misunderstood Parrot Mating Behavior

In the wild the Greater Vasa parrot females with chicks in the nest have been observed calling loudly for food, (you can hear those calls at least a mile away in my experience), and then numerous males will arrive and feed the females. Then the female mates with the male that is not her partner. HOWEVER, it should be noted that the mating is a RITUAL mating where no sperm is involved. Why are these females seeking so much food that they need more than their mate to feed them? Because the Greater Vasa chicks grow twice as fast as other parrot species and thus require a lot of food every day. Due to these observations, some bird breeders thought it would be a good idea to put an extra male in with each breeding pair of Greater Vasa parrots. What happened? Those extra males were attacked by the pair. Since these breeding pairs are in our facilities, we are able to provide plenty of food so these pairs don't need an extra male in their flight! I never placed an extra male in with my breeding pairs and they were very successful in raising their chicks because we provided the amount of food they needed. BUT, this example is to indicate that just because xxx happens in the wild does not mean we should try to duplicate it in our aviaries. What happens in the wild is based on specific needs so we should analyze the activity and then seek solutions that are reasonable and not necessarily try to imitate what has been observed.

By Laurella Desborough

8-19-2025