Inter-annual patterns of aggression and pair bonding in captive American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)

Because zoos typically house animals for extended periods of time, longitudinal studies can play an important role in evaluating and optimizing animal care and management. For example, information on patterns of aggression and mating behavior across years can be used to monitor well‐being, assess re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoo biology 2016-03, Vol.35 (2), p.111-119
Main Authors: Frumkin, Nathan B., Wey, Tina W., Exnicios, Megan, Benham, Caroline, Hinton, Mitchell G., Lantz, Samantha, Atherton, Carolyn, Forde, Debbie, Karubian, Jordan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression - physiology
Animals
Animals, Zoo - physiology
Birds - physiology
captive animals
Female
Longitudinal Studies
Male
New Orleans
personality
Phoenicopterus ruber
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
social networks
UCINET
zoo management
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Summary:Because zoos typically house animals for extended periods of time, longitudinal studies can play an important role in evaluating and optimizing animal care and management. For example, information on patterns of aggression and mating behavior across years can be used to monitor well‐being, assess response to changes to group composition, and promote successful reproduction. Here, we report on patterns of aggression and pair bonding by American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans USA across 4 years (2012–2015), a period that included a simultaneous introduction and removal of individuals in 2014. At the population level, overall rates and social network indices of aggressive interactions were relatively stable over the study period, without a strong signal of the 2014 replacement event. At the individual level, flamingos exhibited a high degree of within‐individual consistency in levels of aggression initiated (W = 0.530, P 
ISSN:0733-3188
1098-2361
DOI:10.1002/zoo.21274