In a study of parakeets, researchers with the University of Cincinnati and Duke University found that sex doesn't decide who initiates fights, who is targeted or who rises in the dominance hierarchy.
Published in the journal Integrative & Comparative Biology , the study examined the gregarious monk parakeets, South American birds that live in social colonies. The birds spend much of the day exerting dominance over others in behaviors such as taking over another’s perch.
“In a lot of animals, you see differences in aggression and how hierarchies form between females and males. But our new results show that we don’t observe any major differences between female and male aggression or rank in our parakeet groups,” said co-author Elizabeth Hobson, an associate professor of biology at UC.
It's rare for birds to be injured during the frequent confrontations.
“Group living involves frequent interactions among individuals. Low-stakes squabbles can build a social hierarchy that prevents more intense, dangerous fights,” co-author Sara Lipshutz said.
Besides engaging in fights, monk parakeets are keen observers when others fight, study lead author Yuchen Chen said. Watching closely who wins and loses helps them know where they stand in the hierarchy and what fresh opportunities exist to improve their standing.
“I had a suspicion from watching them for so many years that the sex of the birds wasn’t really affecting aggression. We tend to get a 50-50 split in sex for who becomes the top-ranked bird in our groups. But it’s important to formally test these suspicions, which is what we did in this study,” Hobson said.
“I think the main takeaway is to not make strong assumptions about animal behavior without collecting data and testing for patterns. It’s important to be careful about the kinds of pre-existing notions because they can lead to unsupported biases and wrong conclusions,” she said.
If you ask the parakeets? They just love a good fight, regardless of their opponents.
Integrative and Comparative Biology
The Role of Sex in Structuring Aggression, Rank, and Hierarchy in Monk Parakeets
1-Jul-2026
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