Photo of Zebra finches flying together with a black background

The Function of Social Calls in Collective Flight Behavior

Many bird species fly in groups, either forming highly structured V-shaped flight formations, which can provide energetic benefits or aggregating in dense cluster flocks to reduce predation risk. To coordinate movements and hence avoid collisions in moving groups, directional information has to be transferred between group members.

Theoretical models can predict the macroscopic pattern of group movements based on the relative spatial position of group members. These models often assume that each individual in a group visually observes the behavior of surrounding group mates to adapt their own movements to those of their neighbors. Although vision seems to be the primary channel for birds to gather environmental information, the sensory mechanisms by which information transfer is achieved in flocks of birds during flight are still elusive.

We aim to test the hypothesis that besides vision, vocalizations emitted during flight play a role in spatial coordination of birds during flocking flight. To this end, we record the individual vocal activity, spatial position and body orientation of all individuals in small groups of birds flying in a wind tunnel.

This project is done in collaboration with Prof. Manfred Gahr (Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Germany).

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