Posted: Fri Mar 11, 16 2:26 pm Post subject: garden birds ,mixed group co operating?
i just looked out at a few cubic meters of urban yard with,a feed station, a bramble hedge and a few overwintered plants plus the mini beasts living on the above and in a few seconds i spotted
a pair of robins
a male blackbird
a wren
several blue tits
and a few flashes of movement of undetermined species
they all arrived together and having fed for a short while all left together
do urban birds work the district in a mixed flock ? i can see how not competing for the same foods and providing security by varied vigilance would work but until just now i had thought they were just in the same place rather than working as a team.
Tavascarow
Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 8407 Location: South Cornwall
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 16 3:06 pm Post subject:
I know it's common to see mixed flocks of farmland birds feeding together. I don't know about urban.
Robins are about the most territorial towards others of their own but I see them close to blackbirds, dunnocks & finches quite often.
Whether that's cooperation or circumstance I don't know.
I suppose in winter when there isn't competition for breeding grounds having a larger flock with many eyes is safer.
Don't know in gardens. In the woods we tend to get winter groups of mixed blue and great tits, chaffinches and greenfinches. In the garden we get small flocks of long tailed tits coming through, but robins and wrens tend to be fairly solitary. Don't see blackbirds mixing particularly with others either.
they do seem to be working their collective territory as a mixed pack
they don't all turn up if i put out crumbs etc like fat walter and mrs "i dont know what a wood is" pigeon or the round blackbirds from the tree over the alley ,the mixed mob seem to visit ,check what there is to eat that suits them and go.
the blackbird with this crew isnt in it's nest territory (it aint round),the wren is very local and sometimes visits alone but more often comes with the team.
it might be as simple as none of them have spotted a cat so they all feel safe but they do seem to share vigilance.
i know if you want to find a new species it is best to look within a few yards of home but i spose that can apply to observing"new"behaviour as well
having watched chooks use (not follow an opportunity but direct and USE )a pig as a jcb to dig up tasty snacks i recon keeping an open mind about critter behaviour is sensible.
when robins know you well enough they will get very tame and polite my grannie had a series of ones that would eat out of her hand or ask for a bit of earth to be turned,chaffinches are also quite good at asking for a snack or a perch on a head or still boot tip ,i have had a few of those as chums.
iirc robins often are symbiotic with wild pigs ,they get snacks,the pigs get avian eyeball and alarm for ground predators.
im beginning to suspect the yard visitors do sometimes have a common interest in staying as a mixed flock.
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