ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2023
A classification scheme for mixed-species bird flocks.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Interspecific Conformity and Asymmetric Behavioral Convergence inEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- Out of the forest: the movements and habitat selection of mixed-species bird flocks in agricultural landscapes adjacent to protected areas in Sri Lanka.Movement ecology · 2026Article
- Large-scale interspecific associations and ecological context shape communal roosts of Western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula).PloS one · 2026Article
- Eavesdropping and contagious alarming in bird communities.Learning & behavior · 2025Article
- The Foe You Know: Observations of Interspecific Interactions Between Small Cetaceans and Northern Resident Killer Whales (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Review
- A classification scheme for mixed-species bird flocks.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Revisiting the 'nuclear species' concept: do we really know what we think we know?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The literature on mixed-species flocks references a wide variety of bird associations. These studies, however, have used an array of unstructured characteristics to describe flocks, ranging from the temporal occurrence of flocking to the identity and behavioural features of constituent members, with little consensus on which key traits define and characterize a mixed-species flock. Moreover, although most studies report species-specific roles, there is no clear consensus about what these roles signify nor how to define them. This lack of consistency limits our ability to compare flocks from different habitats, regions and species pools. To unify this sizable body of literature, we reviewed and synthesized 538 studies on mixed-species flocks. We propose 13 categories to classify mixed-species flocks using behavioural and physical traits at the flock and participant level, as well as the habitat where the flock occurs. Lastly, we discuss the historical terminology for different species roles and propose definitions to clarify and distinguish among nuclear, leader, sentinel, and flock-following species. We envision that these guidelines will provide a universal language for mixed-species flock research, paving the way for future comparisons and new insight between different regions and systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes'.
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