Polygynous (from Britton 2003)
- Males take multiple partners
- Short-term pair bonding has been described for Nile Crocodiles and other species
- Females may mate with multiple partners
- Siblings known to have different fathers in some species of Crocodylus (Britton 2003)
Seasonal reproduction (from Britton 2003)
- Reproductive activity confined to several months per year
- Clumped pattern of courtship, mating, and nesting
- Nile Crocodiles usually breed once a year in South Africa. (Cott 1961) (Leslie et al 2001)
- Egg laying
- Eggs laid between January and December, depending on rains and local climate (Ferguson 1985)
- Ideally, eggs are in nest during last of dry season, hatching occurs at onset of rains (Cott 1975)
Nest Building
- Females build nests in dry season
- Located near permanent water in areas with sandy soil (needed for digging)
- River flats, lake-side beaches, sand-spits, dried up watercourses (Cott 1975)
- Suitable nesting sites have shade in regions where air temperature might become excessively hot
- Hole-type nest (not a mound)
- Construction
- Female digs hole with hind limbs and snout
- Nest characteristics
- 40 by 60 cm (1.3 by 2 ft) in diameter (Ferguson 1985)
- Depth, to 8 -18 in
- Eggs typically buried 30-45 cm deep
- Appears as an oblique burrow leading into a wide egg-chamber
- After eggs are deposited, hole is filled in so that it is flush with surrounding ground and not obvious (Cott 1975)
- On an island in Lake Rudolph, Kenya, Nile Crocodile females covered eggs with a mixture of soil and grass (Modha 1967)
- Female time at nest
- Occupied with nesting and hatchling care for a total of nearly 6 months (Cott 1975)
- Communal nesting sites
- Nests are often close enough to almost touch each other
- More common in the past
- Communal nesting much more difficult in modern times due to conflict with humans for these habitats
- Female returns to same nest site year after year (Pooley & Gans 1976)