A classification scheme for mixed-species bird flocks

Mangini, Giselle; Rutt, Cameron L.; Sridhar, Hari; Buitron, Galo; Muñoz, Jenny; Robinson, Scott K.; Montaño‐Centellas, Flavia; Zarco, Agustín; Fanjul, María Elisa; Fernández-Arellano, Gilberto; Xing, Shuang; Camerlenghi, Ettore

doi:10.1098/rstb.2022.0100

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 149 publications

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“…However, our understanding of how mixed-species groups determine departure times, movement directions, speed and destinations is still limited. Such coordination might largely be influenced by specific species, as seen with many 'leader' species in mixed-species bird flocks [149,160]. Future studies exploring how acoustic signals and movement cues are used for group movement coordination, and investigating how different species reach a consensus decision (e.g.…”

Section: (A) Multimodal Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

Liao,

Magrath,

Manser

et al. 2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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To benefit from group living, individuals need to maintain cohesion and coordinate their activities. Effective communication thus becomes critical, facilitating rapid coordination of behaviours and reducing consensus costs when group members have differing needs and information. In many bird and mammal species, collective decisions rely on acoustic signals in some contexts but on movement cues in others. Yet, to date, there is no clear conceptual framework that predicts when decisions should evolve to be based on acoustic signals versus movement cues. Here, we first review how acoustic signals and movement cues are used for coordinating activities. We then outline how information masking, discrimination ability (Weber’s Law) and encoding limitations, as well as trade-offs between these, can identify which types of collective behaviours likely rely on acoustic signals or movement cues. Specifically, our framework proposes that behaviours involving the timing of events or expression of specific actions should rely more on acoustic signals, whereas decisions involving complex choices with multiple options (e.g. direction and destination) should generally use movement cues because sounds are more vulnerable to information masking and Weber’s Law effects. We then discuss potential future avenues of enquiry, including multimodal communication and collective decision-making by mixed-species animal groups. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamic’.

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Section: (A) Multimodal Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

Liao,

Magrath,

Manser

et al. 2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, our understanding of how mixed-species groups determine departure times, movement directions, speed, and destinations is still limited. Such coordination might largely be influenced by specific species, as seen with many 'leader' species in mixed-species bird flocks [149,159]. Future studies exploring how acoustic signals and movement cues are used for group movement coordination, and understanding how different species reach a consensus decision (e.g.…”

Section: (B) Collective Behaviours In Mixed-species Animal Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

Liao,

Magrath,

Manser

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To benefit from group living, individuals need to maintain cohesion and coordinate their activities. Effective communication thus becomes critical, facilitating rapid coordination of behaviours and reducing consensus costs when group members have differing needs and information. In many bird and mammal species, collective decisions rely on acoustic signals in some contexts but on movement cues in others. Yet, to date there is no clear conceptual framework that predicts when decisions should evolve to be based on acoustic signals versus movement cues. Here, we first review how acoustic signals and movement cues are used for coordinating activities. We then outline how information masking, discrimination ability (Weber’s Law), and encoding limitations, as well as trade-offs between these, can identify which types of collective behaviours likely rely on acoustic signals or movement cues. Specifically, our framework proposes that behaviours involving the timing of events or expression of specific actions should rely more on acoustic signals, whereas decisions involving complex choices with multiple options (e.g. direction, destination) should generally use movement cues because sounds are more vulnerable to information masking and Weber’s Law effects. We then discuss potential future avenues, including multimodal communication and collective decision-making by mixed-species animal groups.

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“…Also, there have been a number of reviews on mixed-species flock in the recent literature (e.g. Mangini et al, 2023;Sridhar et al, 2009;Vander Meiden et al, 2023;Zou et al, 2018). Our goal was to focus attention on the other types of disturbance foraging that are often not examined.…”

Section: Defining Disturbance Foragingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Following the feeder: A global synthesis of disturbance‐based foraging associations of birds

Dominguez,

Hauber,

Tarwater

et al. 2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Species interactions link animal behaviour to community structure and macroecological patterns of biodiversity. One common type of trophic species interaction is disturbance foraging—the act of obtaining food at a disturbance created by another organism. Disturbance foraging is widespread across the animal kingdom, especially among birds, yet previous research has been largely anecdotal and we still lack a synthetic understanding of how this behaviour varies geographically, phylogenetically and ecologically. To address these gaps, we conducted a comprehensive literature review to test focal hypotheses about disturbance foraging behaviour in birds. We found that avian disturbance foraging was geographically ubiquitous, occurring in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats across six continents and four oceans. Consistent with predictions based on established species diversity gradients in different habitat types, the majority of terrestrial observations occurred at tropical latitudes, whereas aquatic observations took place most frequently in temperate marine waters. Although disturbance foraging was widespread across the avian phylogeny, contrary to our prediction, the behaviour was also conserved phylogenetically (Pagel's λ = 0.7) and clustered within suboscine landbirds in terrestrial environments and seabirds in aquatic environments. Similarly, although disturbers were taxonomically diverse as we predicted, interactions were unexpectedly dominated by swarm‐raiding ants in terrestrial environments and cetaceans in aquatic environments. Diet and body mass were also important predictors of disturbance foraging associations: Responders followed disturbers with similar diets and larger body sizes. Overall, our hypothesis‐testing framework provides insight into the importance of geography, phylogeny and ecology as predictors of disturbance foraging behaviour. We anticipate that this comprehensive assessment of disturbance foraging will serve to generate additional hypotheses and spark future research and management considerations about this fascinating but poorly studied suite of species interactions, especially as biotic interactions face unprecedented risks in our rapidly changing world.

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A classification scheme for mixed-species bird flocks

Cited by 13 publications

References 149 publications

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making

Following the feeder: A global synthesis of disturbance‐based foraging associations of birds

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