Discoveries

March 23, 2023

Birds of a Feather …

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A 2020 study discovered that flamingos can form close “friendships” with other birds in their flock and avoid those they don’t like.

Now, a research team found that the pink-feathered birds are actually very picky about whom they hang with, and tend to form cliques with like-minded flamingos, Popular Science reported.

For their new paper, the researchers analyzed the behavior of 147 Caribbean flamingos and 115 Chilean flamingos and noticed that the individuals of both species would spend time with those who had a similar personality to their own.

Researchers assessed their “personality” by measuring behaviors, such as aggressiveness and willingness to explore the world around them.

For example, birds with big personalities had stronger bonds with other bold birds, while more submissive flamingos spent more time with other laid-back birds.

The team noted that the different personality groups can be useful for the flock, for example, in resolving the squabbles that happen in flocks.

“Like humans, flamingos appear to carve out different roles in society based on their personality,” said co-author Fionnuala McCully.

McCully and her colleague, Paul Rose, added that there were differences between the two species: Caribbean flamingos of a specific personality type had a special role within the group overall, but this was not observed in the Chilean flock.

“Our findings need further investigation, both to help us understand the evolution of social behavior and to improve the welfare of zoo animals,” said Rose. “But it is clear from this research that a flamingo’s social life is much more complicated than we first realized.”

This story originally appeared in the March 23, 2023 newsletter, Voting With Feet.