Last week we had the good fortune to be able to watch the Boothbay Region High School’s girls’ basketball team win the Class C South title at the Augusta Civic Center. Their teamwork was terrific on both the defensive and offensive ends of the court. As most things tend to do, this got us thinking about birds— in particular, about the bird world’s version of teamwork. 

Naturally, “teamwork” among birds is a fair bit different from the carefully practiced moves and plays of a basketball team. But there are certainly many examples of birds in groups that work together, and even those that gain advantage just by being in a group. The most obvious examples are birds that regularly gather in flocks. There are many species that do this, at least during certain times of the year. Ducks and geese are some of the most well-known examples. Common eiders are one of the most highly visible flocking species in our area and, in winter, mallards and American black ducks are as well. Being together in a group creates a number of advantages to birds. On the defensive side of the court, so to speak, being in a group means that there are more collective eyes on the lookout for predators, especially predators that may attack from above, like bald eagles and peregrine falcons. When any one individual is preoccupied with feeding or preening or showing off for a potential mate, there’s likely to be others in the group to spot an incoming predator and sound the alarm. Even just being in a group can present an advantage, since predators prefer to go after individuals that are separated from the flock and that may be weak or sick or less vigilant. In the summer, female eiders often group their nestlings together in what are sometimes termed “nurseries” so that multiple females are watching over the young at all times and together can fend off any large gulls that may come in to try to snatch one of their babies.

Some birds that gather in flocks during the winter also stay in flocks during migration. The red-winged blackbirds that we expect to see arriving back in Maine any day now typically arrive here in small flocks—and may have wintered in massive flocks numbering in the hundreds of thousands and included other blackbird species such as common grackles and brown-headed cowbirds. Cedar waxwings and American robins winter in flocks (including here in Maine) and also migrate in flocks. Canada geese are of course famous for migrating in flocks in those huge, familiar “V” shapes that are so stunning to see high against a spring blue sky. For geese and other birds that fly in formation (many large birds fly in long lines or “V” shapes), there are other advantages to being in a group. Each bird behind the leader gains a slight aerodynamic advantage and therefore uses less energy. Over a long flight, such flocks will change leaders, with the lead bird falling back into the group so that another individual can assume the more strenuous role at the head of the pack.  

A few bird species show “teamwork” in raising young. Some species of crow and jay, for example, stay in family groups, and the younger adults will forgo breeding themselves to help feed the young of the alpha pair, which are often the parents of the helpers. 

Congratulations to the Boothbay girls’ basketball team for the teamwork that led them to the state finals and for inspiring us to think about “teamwork” in the bird world!

Jeffrey V. Wells, Ph.D., is a Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Dr. Wells is one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists, and author of Birder’s Conservation Handbook.  His grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a statewide nonprofit membership organization. Both are widely published natural history writers and coauthors of the book, Maine’s Favorite Birds.