These included ruby-crowned kinglets, blue-gray gnatcatchers and pine warblers. Species that pick insects off live leaves and nab them in the air-the most common foraging techniques-were relatively abundant in mixed flocks. Orange-crowned warblers probed the interior of dead leaves while pine warblers combed through air plants. The study documented previously unknown foraging behaviors in Florida, including the yellow-throated warbler's habit of hanging sideways or upside down on palm fronds to feed on insects. Still, the researchers were surprised to see how specialized the birds' foraging habits were-a feature more reminiscent of the Amazon than North America.
North Florida's winter flocking community is "probably the most complex in North America," Jones said, featuring dozens of migratory species and a bevy of foraging opportunities. If you're so similar that you're eating each other's lunch, then you have a serious problem." They hang out together because they share things in common, but they can't share too much. "You have to be similar enough to the other members to get along as a group but specialized in some way: There's the leader, the one who raps, the one who plays guitar," said Jones, a doctoral student in the University of Florida's department of biology. In other words, think of flock dynamics like a K-pop band, said study lead author Harrison Jones. Species kept competition within the flock low, however, by differentiating their foraging technique, their choice of hunting spot or the general distance they kept from a tree trunk. In an analysis of nearly 100 North Florida flocks, Florida Museum of Natural History researchers found similar bird species were significantly more likely to flock together than hunt alone, working as a group to stay safe from predators while cruising the canopy in search of insects.
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