Role of projection in the control of bird flocks.

ABSTRACT: Swarming is a conspicuous behavioral trait observed in bird flocks, fish shoals, insect swarms, and mammal herds. It is thought to improve collective awareness and offer protection from predators. Many current models involve the hypothesis that information coordinating motion is exchanged among neighbors. We argue that such local interactions alone are insufficient to explain the organization of large flocks of birds and that the mechanism for the exchange of long-range information necessary to control their density remains unknown. We show that large flocks self-organize to the maximum density at which a typical individual still can see out of the flock in many directions. Such flocks are marginally opaque--an external observer also still can see a substantial fraction of sky through the

SUBMITTER: Pearce DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4115545 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature