Following from Philip’s interpretation I would make the following prediction: If the primary purpose (or a major benefit) of flocking tightly was to get lift and save energy during take off, you would expect to see clear evidence of birds clustering and positioning prior to take off (not when a predator arrives, but perhaps when shifting locations or changing behaviours). Maybe there is clear evidence of this, but I can’t recall seeing it.
David James, Sydney burunglaut07@yahoo.com ==============================
Yes that sounds right. I have not seen that either. Many flocking birds take off in a wave, rather than all at once or take a few steps apart before flying. Indeed if it was not for the fact of them simply roosting together, I think the risk of injury or interference would exceed any benefit from the wing pressure aspect.
Philip
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Is distance from the middle of a flock directly correlated with pecking order?
Harry Battam BE, PhD Institute for Conservation and Environmental Management University of Wollongong Wollongong, NSW, Australia 2522 Mobile +61 429 887 883 ============================== It could be. I don’t know and wonder if anyone could know. There may be many different answers to this, all of which may be correct, that vary according to the species or the situation involved. I would suspect not (that is taking pecking order as they way it is thought about in a small group of chickens) as these situations often involve hundreds (or more) individuals and often mixed flocks of more than one species, which would make it hard to arrange.
Philip ==============================
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