few seconds. The subordinate bird will respond to that display by adopting the Upright Display. If this doesn’t terminate the threat from the dominant bird, the subordinate will stop its display and fly away. Social displays at the nest Primarily hostile Primarily sexual Nestling specific behavior Comfort movements The comfort movements of the nestlings are exactly the same as those of the parents. They include the typical preening, scratching and stretching as well as the spread-wing sunning and urohidrosis for thermoregulation. Social displays Displays towards parents For the first 55 days of their life, the nestlings depend on their parents for everything. They are confined to the nest and rely on their parents for food and water. For the first few weeks of their life, they remain dependant on their parents for protection from predators. The main display that nestlings exhibit towards their parents is called the Begging Display. During this display, the nestlings drop down as the parent approach with their body almost horizontal. They then open their wings and pump them up and down rhythmically while giving weak and sporadic “yes” nods and occasional jerky “no” nods. They accompany these movements of nasal chittering vocalizations that are timed with the upwards motion of the head. Displays toward other individuals African openbill nestling only perform one display towards other individuals, which is named the Nestling Defense display. It is used when any individual unknown to the nestling approaches too close to the nest. This can be other adults from the same colony or even birds of different species. Overall, the display resembles the Begging Display with a few exceptions. During this display, the feathers of the head, neck, breast and upper back are strongly erect, the wings are held farther out from the sides and the nestlings makes high pitched screams and gobbling sounds as they try to grab at their opponent. Breeding African openbill storks are opportunistic breeders. The species forms monogamous pairs and breeding colonies usually contain less than 60 pairs. These colonies can either be formed of only African openbills or be mixed with cormorants, herons, African spoonbills, African darters and other storks. The breeding success of the African openbill stork is estimated to be less than one young per pair per year. Breeding season The occurrence of the breeding season varies with distribution as the hatching of the nestling is timed to coincide with the