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"When we observe a flock of starlings we are actually seeing a 2D projection of a dynamic, changing 3D environment. "Our research ascertained that the silhouettes we external observers witness were a result of large flocks self-organising to achieve a marginally opaque state at which a bird can still see some of the light sky through gaps in the flock and gather information from other birds. "An individual starling within a flock can see in front of them areas of light and dark created by other birds, forming a dynamic and changing silhouette", says lead researcher Daniel Pearce from the University's Department of Physics. When lots of these particles are introduced, the result is a collective motion much like that of a real flock of birds", says Mr Pearce. In this case the rules are a) follow your nearest neighbour and b) move towards the areas of the projection containing the most information. Each bird is represented by a particle which each have an identical set of rules to follow (and likelihood of making a mistake). "We use a technique called agent based modelling of self-propelled particles, made famous by Vicsek et al (1995). When each simulated bird was attracted to the areas in the virtual flock that can provide the most information the result was a cohesive swarm. This insight led to the development of a computer model in which individual birds with simulated intelligence were attracted to the areas in the flock that could provide the most information on the rest of the flock. The researchers observed that it was always possible to see areas of light coming through the flock, providing the initial insight that the changing patterns of light and dark had a role to play in the flock's movement. The dynamic pattern of light and dark is created by birds within the flock altering the positions and angles at which they fly, causing a change in the amount of light let into the flock. The subsequent pattern of light and dark, formed as the birds attempt to achieve the necessary density, is what provides vital information to individual birds within the flock. This occurs when they can see light through the flock at many angles, a state known as marginal opacity. Also: The physics of why birds fly in V-formation and swarms, swarms, swarms.The research, conducted by the University of Warwick and published in the journal PNAS, found that flocking starlings aim to maintain an optimum density at which they can gather data on their surroundings. Watch more stunning murmuration videos: A Bird Ballet, Wonders in the Sky, and an amazing murmuration of 70,000 starlings. This scale-free correlation allows starlings to greatly enhance what the researchers call “effective perceptive range,” which is another way of saying that a starling on one side of the flock can respond to what others are sensing all the way across the flock-a huge benefit for a starling trying to avoid a falcon. The researchers describe it as a high signal-to-noise ratio. In essence, information moves across the flock very quickly and with nearly no degradation.
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When one starling changes direction or speed, each of the other birds in the flock responds to the change, and they do so nearly simultaneously regardless of the size of the flock. As the researchers put it, “the group respond as one” and “cannot be divided into independent subparts.” But the remarkable thing about starling flocks is their fluidity of motion. Even in the case of flocks of geese, which appear to have a leader, the movement of the flock is actually governed collectively by all of the flock members. Surprising as it may be, flocks of birds are never led by a single individual. More on this “game of telephone” from All About Birds: Watch a clip from the film, above, via Aeon. How do thousands of birds change directions and seemingly move as one without colliding? Dutch filmmaker Jan van Ijken created a short documentary called The Art of Flying to capture this mysterious synchronization. Murmurations, those dense clouds of whirling, pulsating, shapeshifting starling flocks, are a breathtaking dusk phenomenon.