Thema: Social Behavior

Benefits Of Social Behavior

Social behavior seems to provide many benefits to those who practice it. Studies have shown that many animals are more successful in finding food if they search as a group. This is especially true if food resources are clumped together only in certain places. If more individuals are cooperating in the search, there is a greater chance one of them will find the clump of food. In some cases, foraging in a group makes it easier to capture a prey. Dolphins are known to surround a school of fish and to take turns darting into the center to eat the fish that are trapped in the middle. Many carnivores will band together when they try to capture large prey. For examples, wolves will hunt together when hunting moose, and lions will hunt together when hunting large prey such as wildebeests. When these animals are hunting much smaller prey, they will often hunt singly.

Many animals live in social groups partly for protection. Although one baboon might not be able to fight off a leopard, a troop of baboons often is able to do so. In addition, with more individuals cooperating together, some can serve as sentries looking for danger while the other group members are eating or sleeping. Prairie dogs and large flocks of crows normally have some individuals acting as sentries, which makes it nearly impossible to sneak up on a prairie dog town or a flock of crows.

Many prey species, such as schools of fish and flocks of shorebirds, travel in groups in which their movements are highly coordinated. The entire group moves quickly, darting one way and then another as an entire group, as if they were all somehow physically connected with one another. It is believed this behavior creates confusion for the predator. Predators generally need to pick out a single individual in a group that they will focus on and try to capture. A rapidly moving and turning school of fish, flock of birds, or herd of antelope is believed to make it very difficult for the predator to remain focused on a single individual. However, if one individual is unable to keep up with the group, the predator will then be able to focus on it and usually will succeed in catching it.

Some animals form social groups to make travel easier. Canada geese and other bird species typically fly in a V formation. Just like bicyclists who ride behind one another in order to reduce wind resistance, the geese fly in formation to reduce the wind they must encounter. In this situation, the lead bird has the most tiring job, which is why several birds usually take turns leading the V. Some animals congregate in close proximity to one another in cold weather in an effort to stay warm. Small birds are sometimes known to huddle so closely they form a single large ball of birds.