Why birds of a feather flock together
BIRDS of a feather do flock together, scientists found.
Shy male great tits, pictured, seek the company of similarly reserved birds.
But introverted females associate freely with all personalities. Shy birds of both genders have smaller social groups than those who are more outgoing, but their relationships tend to be stronger, a team of researchers at Oxford University found.
Typically shy birds explore a new environment slowly, while bold birds do a quicker recce.
Lucy Aplin, part of a team that tracked thousands of birds with radio tags, said: “We think shy male birds might group together to avoid the more aggressive bold birds.”
The findings are published in the journal Ecology Letters.