![]() But, the number of species is generally much higher in these groups - up to 20 or more in the tropics - and the interactions are consequently more complex. Like seabirds, forest-dwelling birds form flocks led by one or two species and followed by other. There’s a good deal of thievery as well: gulls are notorious kleptoparasites.Įven more complex are the behaviors of forest birds, both in the tropics and in the temperate zones. Intriguingly, the foraging habits of cormorants who join the smorgasbord may actually disperse the fish in a way unfavorable to the other diners and thus act as “suppressors” per a University of Manitoba study from 1987. It is thought that diving birds, such as murres and murrelets, may be the nuclear species in these interactions, as their underwater foraging drives fish toward the surface, allowing surface feeders like gulls to take their pick. Smithsonian ethologist Martin Moynihan pioneered much of the work in this area in the 1960s, though the phenomenon has been known since the mid 1800s. Most mixed species foraging flocks have one or two “nuclear” species that propel the “associate” or “follower” species forward. And numerous factors drive the interaction. This isn’t quite as simple as plucking fruits off of a tree. There is something of a spectrum in this sort of collective behavior.įor example, seabirds such as cormorants, murres, murrelets, gulls, and kittiwakes often participate in foraging efforts that converge around large schools of fish. Though of course the different species of bird who frequent these trees must interact on some level as they make use of the same resource, the social dynamic is far less complex than that exhibited when birds of different species actively search for food together. ![]() Feeding aggregations usually occur around static sources of food, such as those provided by fruiting trees. It is important to distinguish these flocks from feeding aggregations.
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