The group behavior of birds that fly together in coordinated formations, providing benefits such as energy conservation, protection from predators, and improved navigation. Flocking involves complex aerial coordination.
From Old English 'flocc' meaning 'band' or 'troop,' originally referring to groups of sheep. The application to bird behavior became standard in ornithology during the 19th century.
Bird flocks are aerial masterpieces of coordination - starlings can form murmurations of hundreds of thousands of birds that twist and turn like a single organism, while geese flying in V-formation can travel 70% farther than if they flew alone! Each bird follows simple rules but creates breathtakingly complex group patterns.
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