Apostlebirds take preening to a whole new level, a whole new level of social fluffiness involving the preening of self and those of group members. If any behaviour (other than extreme chattiness) characterizes these birds, it is preening. Spend a few minutes with these birds and you will see them fluff themselves out and preen, preening the neck, face, back, chest and even bum of a fellow bird. Sometimes small groups of birds will sit and preen together, and often the whole group will engage in a group preen (late morning a popular time).
Apparently, these are not the only birds that do this “extreme preening”. A friend and colleague works with Arabian Babblers, and these are his birds engaged in their “morning dance”.
