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Titmice Lead the Way
Many birds benefit from this little songbird’s leadership.
© Rick from Alabama
In winter, many songbirds join flocks made up of multiple species that travel around looking for food, benefitting from safety in numbers. But a bird flock that doesn't move in the same direction soon scatters to the wind. It turns out that the Tufted Titmouse, a small gray songbird, is often the one leading the flock. Researchers studying the flight paths of flocks found that the paths taken by the titmice best reflected the direction of the group as a whole, compared to other species in the group. This was especially true when the flock moved quickly between sites, when staying organized is key.
BirdNote®
Titmice Lead the Way
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Mixed species flock calls]
In winter, many songbirds join flocks made up of multiple species that travel around looking for food, benefitting from safety in numbers. But a bird flock that doesn't move in the same direction soon scatters to the wind. So which bird do the others follow?
[Tufted Titmouse calls]
It turns out that the Tufted Titmouse, a small gray songbird, is often the one leading the flock. Researchers studying the flight paths of mixed-species flocks found that the paths taken by the titmice best reflected the direction of the group as a whole, compared to other species in the group. This was especially true when the flock moved quickly between sites, when staying organized is key.
[Tufted Titmouse calls]
Titmice are loud and vocal birds, which could make them particularly easy to follow. Chickadees, which are related to titmice, can play a similar role. Both make alarm calls that can help warn other birds about predators. So other species are likely much safer in the flocks that titmice and chickadees help keep organized.
[Mixed species flock calls]
Birds don’t only compete with each other. Just like people, they can be more successful working together.
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Tufted Titmouse ML 311325631 recorded by Brian Henderson, Tufted Titmouse ML 311202301 recorded by Jay McGowan, Tufted Titmouse ML 291853631 recorded by Darrell Peterson, and Tufted Titmouse ML 84704 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote November 2022 December 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# TUTI-02-2022-11-24 TUTI-02
Reference:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ece3.5561
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228496309_Leadership_of_Winter…
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/brv.12591
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Rodewald/publication/23267883…
Conor Gearin
Writer
Ariana Remmel
NarratorSights & Sounds
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