Expert: Megan - 10/15/2009

Question
I have two male societies in a large flight cage who have been living together peacefully for over a year.  In the last month, they have suddenly started bickering off and on during the day(vocalizations, wing flapping, and chasing each other around the cage).  They take turns as to who is the instigator.  I have also seen them trying to mount each other.  Nothing violent and neither seems overly stressed by these arguments, but it does happen several times a day, with the rest of the day having them get along fine again, even sleeping together without a problem at night inside the nest.  I got the second male society as a juvenile to be a companion for the first male society, who is about 8 months older.  Now they're both adults.  Is this normal "domination" behavior and something I shouldn't worry about?  If I remove the nest, will that alleviate the bickering?  Do Societies need a nest to roost at night or will they be okay just using the perches?  Thanks!

Answer
It does sound like they're just fighting for dominance. Nothing really to worry about unless it gets violent. Keep an eye on them just to make sure they aren't hurting each other. If it starts to get too much you may have to separate them. Other then that, don't worry it