Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Lebret T. (1950) 'Gedisciplineerde' vliegevoluties van vogeltroepen. ARDEA 38 (1-2): 35-40
This paper deals with ''disciplined' flight-evolutions of flocks of birds. On account of the similarity in build, all the individuals in one flock will have the same technical possibilities. They also have the same innate reactions to birds of prey. The escape reactions of flocks of Starlings, Lapwings and other waders, Carrier-pigeons and ducks are dealt with. The social phase is followed by one in which one individual is singled out by the bird of prey. Both types of escape reaction are performed as vacuum reaction, i.e., in the absence of a bird of prey, aroused either by an artificial stimulant or without any extraneous stimulant. It would appear that the 'disciplined' flight evolutions of bird flocks are reactions that are carried out 'in vacuo'.


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