Studies were conducted to monitor the decline of maternal antibodies to paramyxovirus type 1 (PMV-1) in kori bustard chicks (Ardeotis kori), and to determine the antibody response in birds with low levels of maternally derived immunity (MDI) after being given either one or five times the standard domestic fowl dose of a live PMV-1 La Sota vaccine intranasally. The results confirmed that PMV-1 antibodies were transferred to eggs and chicks derived from kori bustard hens immunized with inactivated vaccine 5 to 8 mo previously. The levels of inherited antibody in chicks varied considerably, with 21% of birds having no detectable antibodies at day 14 Chicks hatched from dams with high hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titers had high titers of MDI. Mean antibody levels in seropositive chicks were log2 6.3 and log2 2.9 on days 14 and 42, respectively. The rate of decline of detectable antibodies (1 log2), was estimated to be 5.50 to 6.25 days and 12.25 days in 14 to 21 and 28 to 42 day old chicks, respectively. There was no significant HI antibody response in bustards given a primary vaccination of either one or five times the standard domestic fowl dose of live vaccine intranasally up to 3 wk post-vaccination. High levels of HI antibodies, log2 7.4, were detected in birds given a secondary dose of inactivated vaccine, but not in birds given a secondary dose of live vaccine at 2 wk post-vaccination.