Early Courtship

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"Official relationships" outside of marriage aren't recognised in Sirin culture. Because of this, Sirin can expect to have 1-2 relationships in their lifetime (if they have one at all).

Men will leave their Birth-Flock to join another as they become what the Sirin consider adults (about 15ish in Pre-Migration times, but in modern day this is probably more like 18-21ish). Sometimes women leave their Birth-Flock too, but this is much rarer. 95% of men leave their Birth-Flocks, whereas only 5% of women do. When a male (or rarely female) Sirin joins a new flock, they are now allowed to mingle. It's generally frowned upon for two people from the same Birth-Flock (even if they aren't directly related) to couple up. Because with most species of bird, the males are the more showy-offy ones, I feel like this could be fun for Sirin culture. The men are the ones with the more rigid beauty standards who need to focus on becoming a good partner in the future.

For women, they're expected to make the first move on the male they like. Because only so many new men join each season or year, women need to be aware of who has eyes on who, is the new male good-mate-material, etc etc. If they miss the chance to couple up with someone before the age of 40, they're usually a lost cause unless someone else in their age-range's mate dies.

While homosexuality isn't frowned upon in Sirin culture, it's generally assumed that people will enter a heterosexual and monogamous relationship and have kids until proven otherwise. Homosexuality is what you do as a hobby and for fun, but heterosexuality is what you you're expected to do when you settle down and have kids. (Of course, with changing times, this attitude is changing.)

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Marriage

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Unlike most cultures which only have one type of marriage, the Sirin have 3 types!

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Temporary-Romantic

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A Temporary-Romantic marriage is the most common type of marriage in Sirin culture. Usually, when a female Sirin lays an egg, she must pick someone else (not from her birth flock, so usually a man) to look after the child with her. (If a couple doesn't want kids, any of the two Sirin can perform a marriage proposal by offering their partner the chips of the egg they came from.) A marriage ceremony is then carried out anywhere from a few days to- at most, a month- after, where the two Sirin must promise to support each other and be married for 15 years (sometimes more or less depending on the flock). Once the 15 years is up, the two Sirin are free to part ways! They're no longer married. By default, they are no longer married. If they want to stay married, they must both confirm that they want to stay married. To do that, they can either keep extending their marriage in 5 year incraments, or go into a Permanent-Romantic marriage.

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Permanent-Romantic

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A Permanent-Romantic marriage is the most similar to the "traditional western marriage." Two Sirin vow to be married forever and are expected to be married forever. It's usually expected that this is the second or third marriage someone will have in their lifetime because this marriage type is usually preceded by a Temporary-Romantic Marriage. Once you're in a Permanent-Romantic Marriage, the two Sirin involved cannot get divorced. They are together until death. Unlike most Western-Marriage which are also permanent, Sirin Permanent-Romantic marriages tend to be more happy and functional because the ones that are in this marriage have usually had a good 15 or so years to think about their choice.

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Platonic

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A platonic marriage was historically used for when two single parents decide to couple up and look after their kids together. Sometimes these can evolve into the other marriage types, sometimes they don't. This is the only marriage type where it's socially acceptable for two Sirin from the same flock to get married (related or not), since it's for purely practical reasons.

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Raising Children

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Both men and women are expected to be active parents in their child's life. Women are usually expected to care a bit more for babies since they produce milk, but once the child is weaned off of milk both the mother and father have equal value. Parents will either teach the child Atosian or Myceanean (or both if it's a mixed-flock) and Bird-Call. After that, the child just learns Sirin culture and social expectations through immersion and whenever new information is necessary. Once the child is about 14-16, if they're male they're expected to join a different (usually allied with) flock. If the child is female, they're expected to stay loyal to their Birth-Flock.

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