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Collective animal behaviour is a form of social behavior involving the coordinated behavior of large groups of similar animals as well as emergent properties of these groups. This can include the costs and benefits of group membership, the transfer of information, decision-making process, locomotion and synchronization of the group.
Terminology of animal groups also varies among different taxonomic groups. Groups of sheep are termed herds, whilst groups of birds are referred to as colonies, or flocks. Most studies on group living focus strictly on groups comprising a single species. However, many mixed-species groups commonly occur in nature.
The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste.
An animal that exhibits a high degree of sociality is called a social animal. The highest degree of sociality recognized by sociobiologists is eusociality . A eusocial taxon is one that exhibits overlapping adult generations , reproductive division of labor , cooperative care of young, and—in the most refined cases—a biological caste system .
Group foraging decreases predation and increases relative feeding time at the cost of sharing a food source. The decrease in predation is due to the dilution factor and an early warning system created by having multiple animals alert. Increases in relative feeding are explained by decreasing time spent watching for predators and social learning ...
Group of black-capped chickadees feeding at a bird feeder. Bird species living in a flock may capture prey, likely injured, from an unsuccessful bird within its flock. [2] This behavior is known as the beater effect and is one of the benefits of birds foraging in a flock with other birds. [2]
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In the English language, many animals have different names depending on whether they are male, female, young, domesticated, or in groups. The best-known source of many English words used for collective groupings of animals is The Book of Saint Albans , an essay on hunting published in 1486 and attributed to Juliana Berners . [ 1 ]