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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 11, 2026

Operant Conditioning Task to Measure Song Preference in Zebra Finches

Operant Conditioning Task to Measure Song Preference in Zebra Finches

Published on: December 26, 2019

Monk parakeets 'test the waters' when forming new relationships.

Claire L O'Connell¹, Gerald G Carter^2,3,4, Annemarie van der Marel^1,5

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Biology Letters

|November 11, 2025

Summary

Monk parakeets test the waters when forming new social bonds, gradually increasing interaction before physical contact. This strategy helps mitigate risks in developing relationships between unfamiliar individuals.

Keywords:

affiliative relationships animal sociality pair bonding parrot social dynamics

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Area of Science:

Animal Behavior
Ethology
Social Cognition

Background:

Initiating social relationships offers fitness benefits but involves inherent risks.
Developing trust between strangers often involves a gradual escalation of social investment, termed 'testing the waters'.
Observing and quantifying the initial stages of relationship formation in wild animals is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the process of relationship initiation in unfamiliar groups of monk parakeets.
To determine if strangers follow predictable sequences of social behaviors when forming bonds.
To assess if progressing relationships are associated with increased proximity maintenance.

Main Methods:

Introduced four unfamiliar groups of feral monk parakeets (22 birds total) into a single enclosure.
Observed and recorded social behaviors over 22 days to document relationship development.
Analyzed the sequence of behaviors, focusing on proximity and contact initiation between dyads.

Main Results:

Stranger dyads were more likely to approach without contact before initiating contact compared to familiar dyads.
Unfamiliar dyads were more prone to follow predicted sequences of affiliative behaviors.
Parakeet pairs that progressed to physical contact exhibited higher rates of association.

Conclusions:

Monk parakeets exhibit 'testing the waters' behavior during new relationship formation.
This gradual approach strategy helps manage risks associated with social interactions between strangers.
The findings highlight the complex social cognition and relationship-building strategies in this species.