Self-organization: social facilitation and the allelomimetic behavior

In my earlier post, I discussed about self-organization/spontaneous order as a process, its trigger and the result of self-organization. In this process of self-organization, I also mentioned about "collective animal behavior" and the emergent properties of groups formed as an outcome of this behavior.

 In this post, I go further to discuss about the formation of this group of animals and what's so special about it in a "non-homosapien" context.


Allelomimesis:
The act of any groups of animals swarming together in unison appearing as one multi-individual creature is a behavioral process known as 'allelomimesis'.

The flight pattern emerging out of self-organization has multi-fold advantages for birds:

  • The most obvious being that since each bird is slightly behind the next, all the birds can see the lead bird, and the bird immediately in front and to the side, allowing them to coordinate their flight paths and not crash into each other or get lost

This is the primary reason that fighter jets also fly in formation. 

The only real difference being that they also do this to increase their fields of view and defensive ability.

  • V-shaped formation help birds conserve energy, since each bird flies slightly ahead of the other, there is less wind resistance. To keep things fair, birds take turns being in the front, with each bird moving to the back when they get tired
  • Another advantage, which is not as easy to see, is that this flight formation can increase the flight efficiency of the birds, allowing them to expend less energy in order to fly

  • It also enhances communication and coordination within the flock, allowing birds to improve orientation and follow their route more directly.

How does this help in case a predator is pursuing this group?


  • A flock being pursued by a predator can dramatically expand or re-group without collision
  • This never leaves an individual bird isolated from the group making predation all the more difficult
  • Collision is avoided, as the cohesion does not depend on physical distance but rather their ability to track and interact with their immediate neighbors
  • This also highlights wild birds' incredible cognitive abilities

Isn't that interesting?

Best,
Jasdev Singh (PMI-ACP®, CSM®, CSP-SM™, ICP-ACC)
https://in.linkedin.com/in/singhjasdev

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