Date: September 14, 2016
Source: Oxford University
Flock leaders who attempt to give
their fellow pigeons incorrect information about their direction of travel can
be overruled by the collective wisdom of the group, according to new research
from the University of Oxford.
Recent modelling work has
predicted that the mistakes of a misinformed leader will propagate down a
hierarchical decision-making system such as a pigeon flock. However, using a method
known as 'clock-shifting' that interferes with pigeons' sense of direction,
researchers have shown that bad leadership can be overcome, setting the flock
back on the correct course.
Research from the same group at
Oxford has previously found that the fastest pigeons tend to become flock
leaders, rather than the most competent.
The new study is published in the
Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
Lead author Isobel Watts, a
doctoral candidate in the Oxford Navigation Group in the University's Department
of Zoology, said: 'Previous research in homing pigeons has identified a
navigational leadership hierarchy where an individual's position in the
hierarchy reflects its weight of contribution in the decision-making process.
In this study, we were interested in how much control the "top" bird
actually has over the flock's decisions during homing. Do the top leader's
decisions simply cascade down the hierarchy, or are lower-ranked birds also
able to influence the direction in which the flock flies? By manipulating the
quality of the leader's information, we hoped to discover whether a poorly
informed leader was still allowed to lead or whether the flock would
"overrule" inaccurate leadership.'
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