Temporal and contextual consistency of leadership in homing pigeon flocks

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 23;9(7):e102771. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102771. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Organized flight of homing pigeons (Columba livia) was previously shown to rely on simple leadership rules between flock mates, yet the stability of this social structuring over time and across different contexts remains unclear. We quantified the repeatability of leadership-based flock structures within a flight and across multiple flights conducted with the same animals. We compared two contexts of flock composition: flocks of birds of the same age and flight experience; and, flocks of birds of different ages and flight experience. All flocks displayed consistent leadership-based structures over time, showing that individuals have stable roles in the navigational decisions of the flock. However, flocks of balanced age and flight experience exhibited reduced leadership stability, indicating that these factors promote flock structuring. Our study empirically demonstrates that leadership and followership are consistent behaviours in homing pigeon flocks, but such consistency is affected by the heterogeneity of individual flight experiences and/or age. Similar evidence from other species suggests leadership as an important mechanism for coordinated motion in small groups of animals with strong social bonds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Columbidae / physiology*
  • Flight, Animal / physiology*
  • Hierarchy, Social*
  • Homing Behavior / physiology*
  • Orientation / physiology*
  • Social Dominance
  • Time Factors

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (www.fct.pt, Postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/64786/2009 to C.D.S.), the Swiss National Science Foundation (www.snf.ch, Research grant 31-122589 to H.-P.L.), and intramural funds of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Zurich. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.