Are there any parrots that are solitary in the wild?

[April0684]

Hello everyone,

I just joined here because I wanted to ask this question that I have been wondering about. Is there any parrot species in the wild that are solitary or is every species flock oriented?

 

[Betrisher]

I believe Kakapos spend much of their lives alone, only congregating at breeding time. I'm not sure what the other New Zealand parrots do... I know Keas are gregarious, but Kakas? Not sure...

 

[weco]

Yes Trish, kakas are flock birds.....

To expand on the lowly kakapo, Trish is correct about their congregating at mating time.....when a male gets in the mood, he will establish a 'lek' or mating area, usually in a sort of hollow, then he will start 'boomin' or calling all area females to the party.....as Trish mentioned, they are solitary birds.....until sailors brought rats & feral cats to New Zealand, the kakapo had no natural predators, so they didn't need the communal protection of flocks.....

Anyway, this 'booming' can be heard for miles, so a few females, no females or twenty females may show up.....since the females responding to the male's 'booming' are coming for the purpose of mating, it is incumbent on the host to service all of the females in attendance.....this is because the kakapo do not mate/breed every year.....then the male goes off do what ever male kakapo do when their out with the 'boy.'

The hens go off & lay their one or two eggs, then feed & raise their chicks as single parents.....keep in mind this is all by choice, because the hens leave the 'lek' before the males...the males keep waiting for any 'fashionably' late arrivals...or maybe they're just procrastinators.....

 

[MonicaMc]

Kakapo - the worlds only nocturnal parrot! Well known for their one night stands! (lek breeding system)

I don't know of any other species that are solitary in any way.... mated pairs may separate from a flock to go and raise offspring on their own, but will rejoin the flock once the chicks fledge... so not solitary at all.

 

[goalerjones]

10 chars.....

 

[April0684]

Thanks, I had a feeling there wouldn't be many species of birds if any, that were solitary. I had never heard of the Kakapo species before. I looked them up and they are lovely birds!

 

[MonicaMc]

They are rarer than the spix macaws... which have now been made somewhat more famous by the movie Rio...

Kakapos are less well known because not much hype is made about them.... but Barbara Heidenreich has brought more awareness to the species by training Sirooco, now the mascot for the species!

 

[PetoftheDay]

I first learned about them many years ago - Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker's Guide fame did a documentary series called "Last Chance to See" and one episode was about the Kakapo. You might be able to find it in your local library, maybe! It was cool, because they went to the mountains of New Zealand where the birds live and everything!