Aggression and dominance in the weaver bird, Quelea quelea.

Previous work on agonistic behaviour in Quelea has been concerned primarily with hormonal variables. In the present series of experiments, a number of behavioural correlates of aggression and dominance are examined in male and bisexual groups. These include the effects of group arousal level on rates of agonistic encounters, the relationship between an individual's habitual level of activity and its relative dominance, aggressiveness and position on the perch in a resting "flock". The temporal patterning of encounters is analysed and the reasons why encounters tend to clump in time determined. The relationship between dominance in encounters over individual-distance infringements and dominance in encounters over access to a restricted food source is investigated and the effects of this on loss of weight in males and females determined. The results are discussed in relation to Ward's (1965) finging that in the wild females suffer higher mortality than males during the dry season and in relation to the general determinants of aggression in Quelea.