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Conclusions
Self-maintenance behaviors and allogrooming, both behaviors relating to preening, are both initiated consistently more by females. No other behaviors distinguish between the sexes in this way.
There is no apparent correlation between the frequencies of self-maintenance or allogrooming behaviors and the feather loss condition exhibited by some captive birds. The forcefulness of these behaviors would then have to be the direct cause. The indirect causes of feather loss most likely have to do with how the birds were reared, and possibly with whether of not they had the opportunity to be a part of a flock as juveniles. The birds not known to have had that experience seem to show feather loss more frequently.
Head-bobbing, a sexual behavior, is performed by males at a consistent rate, while the rates vary considerably among females, indicating that the behavior may have other additional or different connotations for the sexes.
The social nature of Bali mynahs is emphasized through the amount of time the birds spend close to each other, particularly in group settings where they have a choice. Large groups in captivity look and behave like a flock, the primary social grouping of the wild Bali mynahs throughout most of the year, before their disappearance.
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