Flock (birds)

Avian species that tend to flock together are typically similar in taxonomy and share morphological characteristics such as size and shape.

[5] Studies have shown that as resources in the aerial environment increase, the flock will possess more sallies than gleaners.

[5] It is through this specific behaviour of feeding among vegetation that the gleaners indirectly increase the foraging rate of the sallies.

[6] 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 rodents.

This alarm call of the ground squirrel requires the ability of the animal to first recognize that there is danger present and then to react.

[2] It is important to note that by making an alarm call to signal members of the flock one is providing the predator with an acoustical cue to the location of a possible prey.

[7] During the nonbreeding season, Peruvian thick-knees in Chile are reported to have an average of 22.5 birds — a mixture of adults and youngsters — in their flocks.

[2] 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.

Flocks of black-capped chickadees have shown the ability to produce a mobbing call when they visualize a possible predator.

[2] While this is an obvious benefit of the 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.

[9] This is when flocks of European starlings gather in vast numbers, creating complex shapes against the sky during the spring.