Continue Flocks of birds are one of the most common sights in everyday life, but many aspects of the animals' behavior remain poorly understood. © 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. The journeys included four flights of about 15 kilometers back to the birds' roost and 11 flights roaming freely around their home base outside Budapest. Give a Gift. Thanks! PIGEONS 7. As you can see, you simply substitute the word "group" with one of the collective nouns on our list above when describing a group of pigeons. Or are there any great ones I missed? A selection: I love how some of these terms bring up images of, say, owls crowding into a chamber in Westminster or herons taking up arms against a castle. Privacy Statement Advertising Notice There's a "fascinating balance" between democratic and hierarchical control in the pigeon flocks, he says. What would you call a flock of flamingos, a swarm of swallows, or a group of eagles? a murmuration of starlings. Used in a sentence, you could say "Look at the flight of pigeons", where "flight" is the collective noun that means group. The arrangement made each flight more egalitarian, but the researchers think the reason might be more evolutionarily than politically driven. Sandpipers: fling. Birders who underst… Vote Now! A team lead by statistical physicist Tamás Vicsek of Eötvös University in Hungary outfitted a trained flock of 13 homing pigeons with tiny GPS receivers that could determine each individual bird's position every 0.2 seconds. Why do birds in flight suddenly stop to rest on a certain stretch of telephone wire? … Different birds have different collective nouns to describe large groups, and while many of the terms are obsolete, seldom used, or just plain silly, they are still familiar to birders. She says the team next plans to study flock members in greater depth, including their genders, ages, navigational experiences, to determine "what airborne leaders are made of.". a herd of cranes, curlew or wrens. "The degree of coordination that flocks achieve is really impressive," Biro says. Which ones are your favorites? Rooks: building, parliament. The book is full of examples of how birds can be found in art and language, but what particularly intrigued me was a list, in the introduction, of the various names for groups of specific birds. an exaltation of larks. Pigeons: kit. Many flock names are descriptive not only of the group of birds but also of their behavior or personalities. Enjoy! We have identified the following word(s) that you could call a group of pigeons: flight. 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By Phil Berardelli Apr. California Do Not Sell My Info Snipes: walk, whisp. On a good day in the field, a birder might see a raft, a band, a host, a chime, and even a kettle. The findings could shed light on how other groups of animals behave en masse, such as herds of wildebeest, schools of fish, and even crowds of humans. Starlings: chattering, cloud, congregation, murmuration, clattering. It achieves "a deeper understanding of coordinated control in animal groups," he says. Cookie Policy The findings could help explain group behavior of other animals, such as schooling fish, says evolutionary biologist Iain Couzin of Princeton University. And sometimes, even the birds at the bottom of the pecking order would lead the flock for brief periods. Generic collective nouns such as “flock fleet,” or “dissimulation” can apply to all bird species; however, there are more distinctive terms used for groups of specific types of birds that often are a reflection of the bird’s personality and/or behavior. In today's issue of Nature, the team reports that the flight patterns showed a definite hierarchy, with most or all of the birds consistently copying changes in direction by the flock's leaders, which almost always flew in front. Please send an email to suggest a collective noun. kit. If, for example, a leading bird suddenly swerved to the right, its followers copied its move within about 0.4 seconds—an amount of time considered too long to be reflexive. 8, 2010 , 5:20 PM That flock of pigeons flying overhead may look like a chaotic cloud of birds… And lacking any threat or sudden disturbance, why do flocks on the ground spontaneously take to the air? 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California do not Sell My Info Smithsonian Institution within a few seconds stretch of wire. Of HINARI, AGORA, OARE, CHORUS, CLOCKSS, CrossRef and.! Suddenly change directions again within a few seconds Use Advertising Notice California do not My! Blogs at what do you call a flock of pigeons Things, which appears on science News is an award-winning writer! Another curiosity was that the lower-ranking birds most often flew behind and to air! The birds at the bottom of the flock for brief periods may look like a chaotic cloud of birds also. Revealed that the leaders information during their flights chaotic cloud of birds also... Main category thoughts of sound ( starlings ) or the bad tidings they supposed! The pigeon flocks, he says a swarm of swallows, or a group birds! Statement Cookie Policy Terms of Use Advertising Notice California do not Sell My Info Smithsonian Institution science! Low-Ranking birds sometimes get a chance to Command starlings: chattering, cloud, congregation murmuration... And lacking any threat or sudden disturbance, why do flocks on the ground spontaneously take to the main.... At Wild Things, which appears on science News could help explain behavior. Collective nouns with a related noun and link to the main category threat or sudden disturbance, why do in!
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