Birding, Birders and all things Birds

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Comment by Dallas the Phallus on December 9, 2012 at 8:28pm

PART 2

Swarming is a well-known behaviour in many animal species from marching locusts to schooling fish to flocking birds. Emergent structures are a common strategy found in many animal groups: colonies of ants, mounds built by termites, swarms of bees, shoals/schools of fish, flocks of birds, and herds/packs of mammals.

 

Flocking behavior is the behavior exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. There are parallels with theshoaling behavior of fish, the swarming behavior of insects, and herd behavior of land animals.

From the perspective of the mathematical modeller, "flocking" is the collective motion of a large number of self-propelled entities and is a collective animal behavior exhibited by many living beings such as birds, fish, bacteria, and insects.^[1] It is considered an emergent behavior arising from simple rules that are followed by individuals and does not involve any central coordination.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on December 9, 2012 at 8:28pm

Joan: I wonder what goes on in their brains that makes them possible to fly so closely together and not crash together and drop from the sky? Two flocks fly side by side in swirls and blend and separate again. It is a fantastic thing to watch.

It's called an emergence. Here are some various excerpts from Wikipedia. They are too long to contain in one comment, so I will continue with 2 or 3 until I get it all in:

PART 1

n philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems.

 

Life is a major source of complexity, and evolution is the major process behind the varying forms of life. In this view, evolution is the process describing the growth of complexity in the natural world and in speaking of the emergence of complex living beings and life-forms, this view refers therefore to processes of sudden changes in evolution.

Comment by Tony Carroll on December 9, 2012 at 7:57pm

Joan, love them all. How descriptive and evocative language can be. People can be so literal, and yet find whimsy in unusual ways. I mean, physicists say quarks have color and flavor. The flavors are up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top. Makes me smile to think of some straight laced physicists coming up with these words.

Another that I love, crepsicular rays. Also called 'The Rays of Buddha'. Poetic and whimisical.

Back to animals (and something that might explain what happens in Washington D.C.), is the following;

LMAO!

Comment by Joan Denoo on December 9, 2012 at 7:25pm

Dallas, I don't remember seeing this before and am so glad to watch those incredible swarms blend and separate, and swoop and swarm. I wonder what goes on in their brains that makes them possible to fly so closely together and not crash together and drop from the sky? Two flocks fly side by side in swirls and blend and separate again. It is a fantastic thing to watch. Your word "murmuration" is new to me. Here I got the to encyclopedia ... "Murmuration of starlings: a flock—Lydgate,", "

"A colony of beavers, a chattering of choughs, a gang of elk, a business of ferrets, a leap of leopards, a pride of peacocks, a sneak of weasels, a murmuration of starlings, a scurry of squirrels, a charm of hummingbirds and an unkindness of ravens.

Now, here is the gnus by Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England)

"Some nouns of assemblage are based on bird vocalizations, such as a chattering of choughs and a murmuration of starlings.

Translating the language of birds by Young William /Verbatim

"A murmuration of starlings, a tower of giraffes, a bloat of hippopotamuses, a cackle of hyenas, a convocation of eagles and a charm of finches.

Names to collect and to savour by Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England)"

Here is another video of two amazing young girls: 

a murmuration of starlings at Gretna in Scottish borders, taken on ...

Another from BBC:

murmurations, a testament to amazing, complex behaviours

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on December 9, 2012 at 11:02am

That reminds me of this video. I'm sure you've all seen it before by now (I think I've posted it at least once), but it is still worth watching from time to time. 

Comment by Steph S. on December 9, 2012 at 10:59am

Those are wonderful pictures Tony.

I love that picture Booklover - thanks so much!

Thanks Joan for the link to Papua New Guinea. Enjoyed it.

How's everyone ?

Comment by booklover on December 9, 2012 at 8:14am

Found this pic on FB.

Comment by Joan Denoo on December 8, 2012 at 2:49pm

My goodness! What incredible birds and people who share the islands. Of course I had to look up information and found this tidbit:

"Described by early visitors as the Papuan Wonderland, the Southern Highlands were among the last regions to be explored, and they are still home to some of the most fascinating tribal cultures of New Guinea. The area itself is spectacular, with lush vegetation, dramatic high mountain valleys, towering mountains, and the roaring headwaters of several rivers. The largest ethnic group are the Huli, whose Edenic territory in the Lavani Valley was discovered only in 1954. Like many of Papua New guinea's peoples, the Huli are distinguished by their unique forms of personal adornment--in this case, spectacular wigs fashioned of feathers, human hair, flowers, and the fur of the marsupial cuscus."

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Just look into the eyes of that handsome fellow, they are soft, not fierce, and I imagine he would have stories to tell. Thanks Tony, I am reposting.

The bird, another example of evolution in isolation. Splendid!

Comment by Tony Carroll on December 8, 2012 at 11:29am

Hey Joan, Idaho. It's a Bird of Paradise. One of the many under that heading. From Papua-New Guinea. King of Saxony bird of paradise. The native peoples use the feathers in dress and ceremony, as below:

Beautiful birds, handsome people.

 

Comment by Idaho Spud on December 8, 2012 at 8:39am

Outstanding bird Tony.

I tried posting this yesterday afternoon, but my ISP has been giving me trouble.

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