The synchronization of behaviour in flocks of estrildine finches

Abstract

Feeding, flighting and clumping are all synchronized in captive flocks of Amandava subflava and Uraeginthus bengalus. Feeding and flighting A. subflava, and flighting in U. bengalus, are synchronized by both visual releasers and calls, whereas clumping in both species and feeding in U. bengalus are synchronized by birds reacting to the sight of others performing these activities. In captive mixed flocks, birds react to the sight of one another, so that there is interspecific synchronization, but not to calls of the other species. Calls and visual releasers are also important in synchronizing behaviour in the wild. Mixed flocks sometimes occur and one species, the firefinch, Lagonosticta senegala, has a well developed tendency to flock with other species.