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Flock (birds)

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information-sharing model, the cost is that the social hierarchy of the flock may result in subordinate birds being denied food by those that are dominant. Another cost is the possibility that some individuals may refuse to contribute in the search of food and instead simply wait for another member to find a food resource. These individuals are known as producers and scroungers, respectively.
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gather in vast numbers, creating complex shapes against the sky during the spring. It is during this time spent in Denmark that the European starlings spend time gathering food and resting as part of their migration journey. Collecting in groups this large enables the European starlings to decrease
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By birds co-existing with one another in a flock, less time and energy is spent searching for predators. This mutual protection of one another within the flock is one of the benefits to living within a group. However, as flock numbers increase the more aggressive individuals within the flock become
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Studies have shown that as resources in the aerial environment increase, the flock will possess more sallies than gleaners. This has been shown to occur during forest fires in which insects have been flushed from vegetation, however this can also be done by the gleaners. When gleaners obtain meals
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While mixed flocks are typically thought to comprise two different species, it is specifically the two different behaviours of the species that compose a mixed flock. Within a mixed flock there can be two different behavioural characteristics: sally and gleaner. Sallies are individuals that act as
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of the ground squirrel requires the ability of the animal to first recognize that there is danger present and then to react. This type of behaviour is also seen in some birds. It is important to note that by making an alarm call to signal members of the flock one is providing the predator with an
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Those birds that are more rare and therefore less abundant in an environment are more likely to perform in this mixed flock behaviour. Despite the fact that this bird is more likely to be a subordinate, its ability to obtain food increases substantially. As well this bird is now less likely to be
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It can be seen that birds in a flock may perform the information-sharing model. In this situation the entire flock would search for food and the first to find a reliable food source will alert the flock and the entire group may benefit by this finding. While this is an obvious benefit of the
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acoustical cue to the location of a possible prey. The benefit here is if the members of the flock are genetically related to one another. If this is true, even if the bird that signalled the flock were to die its fitness would not decrease according to
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towards one another. This is one of the costs to living within a flock. It is often seen that flocks are dynamic and thus fluctuate in size depending on the needs of individuals in order the maximize benefits without incurring a large amount of costs.
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have shown the ability to produce a mobbing call when they visualize a possible predator. In response, the individual black-capped chickadees surround the predator and attack it in a mob-like fashion to force the predator to leave. This is known as
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from vegetation it causes the other prey within the vegetation to be flushed out into the aerial environment. It is through this specific behaviour of feeding among vegetation that the gleaners indirectly increase the foraging rate of the sallies.
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strategies from adults during this time. Researchers believe that the flocking behaviour may help to decrease a predator's success rate when attacking the flock, rather than increasing the ability of the flock to spot an approaching predator.
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Bird species living in a flock may capture prey, likely injured, from an unsuccessful bird within its flock. This behavior is known as the beater effect and is one of the benefits of birds foraging in a flock with other birds.
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Flocks are often defined as groups consisting of individuals from the same species. However, mixed flocks consisting of two or more species are also common. Avian species that tend to flock together are typically similar in
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to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also offers foraging benefits and protection from predators, although flocking can have costs for individual members.
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of the possible threat. This simple example demonstrates that flocks are not only seen in bird species or a herd of sheep, but it is also apparent in other animals such as
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Templeton, Christopher; Greene, Erick; Davis, Kate (June 2005). "Allometry of Alarm Calls: Black-Capped Chickadees Encode Information About Predator Size".
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in Chile are reported to have an average of 22.5 birds — a mixture of adults and youngsters — in their flocks. Young birds were observed learning
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guards of the flock and consume prey in the air during flight. On the other hand, gleaners are those that consume prey living within vegetation.
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in which groups of 2–6 hunt a single prey together. The group splits into smaller groups in which it then encloses on a prey, such as a
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Camacho, Carlos (July 2011). "Variations in Flocking Behaviour from Core to Peripheral Regions of a Bird Species' Distribution Range".
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By living in a large flock, birds can to attack the predator with a stronger force compared to if the bird was on its own. Flocks of
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are birds that are seen in large flocks during particular seasons in various regions of the world. During the nonbreeding season,
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Terborgh, J (2005). "Mixed flocks and polyspecific associations: Costs and benefits of mixed groups to birds and monkeys".
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where early warning calls play a vital importance in the early recognition of danger. The result is the formation of many
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living in colonies, the ability to recognize a predator is rapid. The squirrel is then able to use vocalizations to warn
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challenged whether or not an animal had to recognize the presence of a predator for protection against it.
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The ability to avoid predation is one of the most important skills necessary in order to increase one's
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attacked by a predator because predators have a lower success rate when attacking large flocks.
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characteristics such as size and shape. Mixed flocks offer increased protection against
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in an erect position upon hearing the predation alarm call from conspecifics
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form enormous flocks—sometimes tens of thousands strong.
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Starlings flocking, a predator bird can be seen upper right
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In Denmark, there is a biannual phenomenon known as
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However another study involving 14: 1292: 728: 668: 405: 905: 685:Earth Science Picture of the Day 699: 414:American Journal of Primatology 375:(7429): 314. 19 December 2012. 144:Aggressive display between two 74: 617: 357: 266: 1: 551:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.01.013 259: 42:is a gathering of individual 829:Mixed-species foraging flock 780:Agent-based model in biology 762: 491:10.1371/journal.pone.0042071 218: 69:mixed-species feeding flocks 7: 1076:Particle swarm optimization 252:their risk of predation by 10: 1297: 785:Collective animal behavior 230: 1177: 1139: 1094: 1046: 914: 903: 770: 593:10.1007/s10211-011-0111-z 530:Spermophilus richardsonii 195:feeding at a bird feeder. 112:. It can be seen that by 1114:Self-propelled particles 1195:Collective intelligence 1061:Ant colony optimization 646:10.1126/science.1108841 193:black-capped chickadees 172:black-capped chickadees 160:anti-predator behaviour 1215:Microbial intelligence 875:Shoaling and schooling 681:"Black Sun in Denmark" 426:10.1002/ajp.1350210203 228: 196: 148: 105: 35: 27: 233:Sort sol (bird flock) 226: 190: 143: 102:Cape ground squirrels 99: 92:Safety from predation 33: 22: 1235:Spatial organization 1200:Decentralised system 1038:Sea turtle migration 892:Swarming (honey bee) 349:Gill, Frank (2007). 156:Peruvian thick-knees 1210:Group size measures 772:Biological swarming 638:2005Sci...308.1934T 632:(5730): 1934–1937. 482:2012PLoSO...742071S 381:2012Natur.492Q.314. 1225:Predator satiation 1086:Swarm (simulation) 1081:Swarm intelligence 1056:Agent-based models 887:Swarming behaviour 249:European starlings 229: 197: 183:Foraging in flocks 149: 146:black-headed gulls 106: 36: 28: 24:Red-billed queleas 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Index


Red-billed queleas

birds
taxonomy
morphological
predators
forests
mixed-species feeding flocks

Cape ground squirrels
fitness
ground squirrels
conspecifics
rodents
alarm call
Hamilton's Rule
thick-knees

black-headed gulls
Thick-knees
Peruvian thick-knees
anti-predator behaviour
black-capped chickadees
mobbing

black-capped chickadees
Harris's hawk
rabbit

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