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March 15, 2015

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Birds take turns at front

Source: AFP | March 15, 2015, Sunday | Print Edition

FLYING in a V-formation is toughest for the leader, and migrating birds compensate by taking turns so that no one gets exhausted, international researchers said recently.

The authors of the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a US peer-reviewed journal, described the discovery as the “first convincing evidence for ‘turn taking’ reciprocal cooperative behavior in birds.”

The research is based on 14 northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), that migrate from Salzburg, Austria to Orbetello, Italy. Each bird wore a device that allowed scientists to track how individuals acted within the flying V-formation. Researchers found the “birds changed position often within the ‘V’.”

“Overall, individuals spent an average of 32 percent of their time benefiting by flying in the updraft produced by another bird’s flapping wings and a proportional amount of time leading a formation,” the study said. Scientists believe this high level of cooperation evolved as a survival necessity.

Since migration is risky — some research has found that more than one third of young birds die of exhaustion on their first trip — those that learn to fly in formation and change positions regularly can save energy.

“Our study shows that the building blocks of reciprocal cooperative behavior can be very simple,” said lead author Bernhard Voelkl of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology.

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