Flight zone
[6] In a study comparing 56 bird species with long flight distances, it was found these had declining populations in Europe.
This indicates that standardized measures of flight distance can provide reliable information about the population consequences of risk-taking behaviour by individuals and the susceptibility of different species to increased levels of disturbance by humans.
Animals faced with approaching predators must decide at which distance to initiate their flight, and they are expected to do so in a way that maximizes their fitness.
The benefit of flight is equivalent to the cost of remaining in place or, in other words, to the risk of capture.
[20] Urbanization of birds has also been shown to correlate with changes in stress physiology and anti predator behaviour.
[20] This may be due to a number of factors differing in rural vs urban areas, such as; difference in predator communities, length of exposure time to humans, relative abundance of humans, and the presence/abundance of food (bird-feeders in winter for example).
[22] The flight distance during handling is usually 1.5 to 7.6 m for beef cattle raised in a feeding operation and up to 30 m on mountain ranges.
[26] The flight zone is larger in the front than behind, due to the majority of their senses pointing forward.
[27] Handlers sometimes make the mistake of deeply invading the flight zone when animals are being driven down an alley or into an enclosed area such as a crowd pen.
If the handler deeply penetrates the flight zone, the animals may turn back and run over them in an attempt to escape.
[30] Animals have a tendency to move in the opposite direction when their handler walks deep into their flight zone.
By crossing an animal's point of balance, within the flight zone, a handler can move the herd in a particular direction and control their speed of movement.
For example, crossing the point of balance from front to back will move the animal forwards, while the opposite is also true.
If animals turn to face the handler he or she is considered to be no longer penetrating the flight zone.
Minimal stress prevents injury to the animal and maintains good production, such as increased quality of meat and improved muscle and fat scores.
[25] Poor husbandry skills including over penetration of the flight zone results in the following behaviours: stress, panic, aggression, bolting, prey behaviour, charging, fainting, sickness and self-inflicted damage.
Rough handling, such as constant flight zone pressure, can raise the heart rate of an animal.
