The DOI matches its Crossref record; 20 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Preflight Signalling in Swans: A Mechanism for Group Cohesion and Flock Formation
Abstract
The preflight behaviour of whooper swans Cygnus cygnus and Bewick's swans Cygnus columbianus bewickii was examined to determine the adaptive significance of the ritual. Analysis of the preflight sequence revealed that the rate of signalling became significantly faster as the time of takeoff approached. This provides the first quantitative evidence that a threshold of excitability is responsible for triggering synchronised flight in social units. Two ultimate and two proximate factors that affect this threshold were uncovered. They are: 1) Maintaining proximity to partners—flight was delayed by birds with non‐attentive mates and signalling lasted on average four times longer than those whose mates showed more interest. 2) Maintaining flock cohesiveness—birds which performed signals for longer periods while swimming among uninterested birds were successful in attracting followers 61% of the time. 3) The bird's feeding performance related to dominance status—less successful feeders (potentially hungry birds), flew after little time and few signals. 4) The type of feeding opportunity at the eventual destination—birds which flew to provided feeds (nutritious barley) spent less time performing preflight signals than when they flew to forage on grass fields.
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“So-called 'pre-departure vocalizations' are often part of this coordinating and decision-making procedure.”
From Rules of departure: Antiphony and personalized vocal spaces in wild male elephant group coordination (2024) · cites this paper as [13]
Citations
Cites
THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTAIN ASSEMBLAGES OF BIRDS AS “INFORMATION‐CENTRES” FOR FOOD‐FINDING
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House sparrows establish foraging flocks by giving chirrup calls if the resources are divisible
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Parent-offspring relationships in wintering barnacle geese
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Self-citationFunctional aspects of prolonged parental care in Bewick's swans
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Equilibrium flock size and factors affecting arrival and departure in feeding house sparrows
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Pair Bonds and Factors Influencing the Diversity of Mating Systems in Brown-Headed Cowbirds
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Field tests of information transfer in communally roosting birds
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Visual signalling in Canada Geese for the coordination of family units
Black, J. M., & Jr Barrow James, H. (1985) · Wildfowl (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) · Cited by 8
Self-citationThe January 1986 Whooper Swan census in Britain, Ireland and Iceland
Salmon, D., & Black, J. M. (1986) · Wildfowl (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) · Cited by 8
Self-citationThe behavioural ecology of the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus cygnus)
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A declaration of intent in the kittiwake gull (Rissa tridactyla)
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Preflight Behavior of Sandhill Cranes
Tacha, T. C. (1984) · Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) · Cited by 4
Research works printed but not linked: 12
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Cited by
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Consensus decision making in animals
Conradt, L., & Roper, T. J. (2005) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.05.008 · Cited by 872
Group decision-making in animals
Conradt, L., & Roper, T. J. (2003) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature01294 · Cited by 529
Group decisions in humans and animals: a survey
Conradt, L., & List, C. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0276 · Cited by 308
Decision-making processes: The case of collective movements
Petit, O., & Bon, R. (2010) · Behavioural Processes · doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2010.04.009 · Cited by 246
Consensus decision making in human crowds
Dyer, J. R. G., Ioannou, C. C., Morrell, L. J., Croft, D. P., Couzin, I. D., Waters, D. A., & Krause, J. (2007) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.05.010 · Cited by 203
Metadata
- Authors
- Black, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Black, Jeffrey M.
- Venue
- Ethology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1988-01-12
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 143-157
- ISSN
- 0179-1613 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-0310
- OpenAlex
- W2038004637
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Ethology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Keywords
- whooper swan, Bewick's swan, flock cohesion, group cohesion, dominance rank, feeding performance, foraging behavior, ritual behavior, Cygnus cygnus, Cygnus columbianus bewickii
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