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My fascination with birds is multifold.
One aspect of bird behavior that I have wondered about for several years is the decision-making process that is involved in the flights of winter feeding flocks.
Will you kind-hearted Awaders help me by expanding this study to what you see?
Thanks. Simply note the direction that flocks of non-migratory birds are flying in the morning, and then note the direction that they fly at dust to roost.
My observation is that they fly into the sun on both occasions. That is, they fly eastward towards their feeding grounds in the morning, and then fly westward to roost for the night. Why?
Would you please check on your birds this Feburary and tell me what you see?
Milo
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Pooh-Bah
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Start of a conjecture: see para 2Like some insects, some birds use polarized light to assist in navigation. Insects tend to be less active at midday, because there is less polarized light when the sun is high.
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Quote:
Start of a conjecture:
see para 2
Like some insects, some birds use polarized light to assist in navigation. Insects tend to be less active at midday, because there is less polarized light when the sun is high.
Yes, inselpeter, but you and your url don't address my question, namely, is it your observation that non-migrating gatherings of birds fly east in the morning and west in the afternoon?
The question is simple...address it. 
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Pooh-Bah
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time is short, and starts are starts Anyway, I find your observation interesting, but I can't myself confirm it. I was wondering about a why. As to the rest, I tend to frown most at midday. 
Last edited by inselpeter; 02/03/06 03:04 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Friday I saw three or four skeins of geese at about 8:45 AM. They were all flying mostly west with a variable north component.
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Geese don't count, Faldage. That isn't to say that they can't count, but geese don't roost in trees. At least they don't down south when they are on vacation.
And Inselpeter, Yes, I think that the polarized vision of birds influences many aspects of their behavior. One such influnce could be the effects of polarized light as the sun slowly drops beneath the horizon - the green flash of cruse ships. Is this flash the signal for the flock to rush in unison to the safety of the overnight roosting trees? Or are they simply responding to a subtle movement of a leader with their keen eyesight as Maverick has suggested.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Geese don't count, Faldage. That isn't to say that they can't count, but geese don't roost in trees. At least they don't down south when they are on vacation.
Din't nobody say nothing bout nobody roosting in no trees! And we have geese around here all year long so, far's I kin tell our geese ain't no migratories.
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Pooh-Bah
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I'm curious, what size are the birds in question? Upstate, we have mostly chickadees and yellow finches, as well as humming birds and some larger species: jays, morning doves, and an occasional cardinal. The vista isn't large enough to observe the movements you're talking about -- at dawn, they just appear in the trees at the periphery of the yard, and fly to the feeder near the house and back all day long, depending on who's outside. This tropism would be interesting.
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Hmm. After thinking about it I agree I'm wrong. I confess I don't know much about the habits of geese except to know that they don't fly around just for the hell of it. If you can, Mister Faldage, please find out where they go during the day. It would be good to know if they sleep around or return faithfully to their favorite, wet, cold, nests at night. And please, continue reporting the hour and compass direction of their daily flights. Geese are birds too, you know. 
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Dear iselpeter.
Black birds of any kind. Or mixed flocks, searching the countryside for food in winter. You've seen the breatakingly beautiful patterns as they fly against the clear winter sky, splitting off and recombining in a airal ballet choregraphed by the gods.
And so within that dance lies our query...
What bird, or what mechanism, determines the direction that the group will take in their communal search for food?
The tropism is indeed interesting.
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