Skip to main content
Log in

An analytical study on leader and follower switching in V-shaped Canada Goose flocks for energy management purposes

  • Published:
Swarm Intelligence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Migrating birds may take advantage of V-shaped flocking to reduce the required energy for their flight. Studies have shown that the birds in different positions in V-shaped flight contend with different drag forces. Lead and follower birds may have to overcome more drag forces than the other birds in a V-shaped flock. Some observations of different kinds of flocking birds repositioning within a flock have been reported. This observation is here interpreted in an energetic context as well as its aerodynamic aspects. This paper presents the repositioning aerodynamics analysis of birds that fly in V-shaped flocks and their energy-saving consequences. This analysis demonstrates how Canada Geese can fly very far in a single day through repositioning. Extensive analysis shows that leader and tail position switching of 14 Canada Geese can improve the flight range and endurance of these migrating birds more than 44.6%. This study gives the guidelines for energy saving and optimization of flocking migrating birds through evolution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alerstam, T. (1991). Bird flight and optimal migration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution,6(7), 210–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alerstam, T., & Lindström, Å. (1990). Optimal bird migration: the relative importance of time, energy, and safety. In Bird migration (pp. 331–351) Berlin: Springer.

  • Anderson, J. D., Jr. (2016). Fundamentals of aerodynamics. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, M., & Wallander, J. (2004). Kin selection and reciprocity in flight formation? Behavioral Ecology,15(1), 158–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badgerow, J. P. (1988). An analysis of function in the formation flight of Canada geese. The Auk,105(4), 749–755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badgerow, J. P., & Hainsworth, F. R. (1981). Energy savings through formation flight? A re-examination of the vee formation. Journal of Theoretical Biology,93(1), 41–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bajec, I. L., & Heppner, F. H. (2009). Organized flight in birds. Animal Behaviour,78(4), 777–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp, G. (2011). Long-distance migrating species of birds travel in larger groups. Biology Letters,7(5), 692–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonabeau, E., & Meyer, C. (2001). Swarm intelligence: A whole new way to think about business. Harvard Business Review,79(5), 106–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruderer, B. (1997). The study of bird migration by radar part 2: Major achievements. Naturwissenschaften,84(2), 45–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattivelli, F., & Sayed, A. H. (2009). Self-organization in bird flight formations using diffusion adaptation. In 3rd IEEE international workshop on computational advances in multi-sensor adaptive processing.

  • Cresswell, W. (1994). Flocking is an effective anti-predation strategy in redshanks, Tringa tetanus. Animal Behaviour,47(2), 433–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutts, C., & Speakman, J. (1994). Energy savings in formation flight of pink-footed geese. Journal of Experimental Biology,189(1), 251–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen, J. T. (1952). Flocking behavior in birds. The Auk,69(2), 160–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, A. D., Glahder, C. M., & Walsh, A. J. (2003). Spring migration routes and timing of Greenland white-fronted geese–results from satellite telemetry. Oikos,103(2), 415–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giardina, I. (2008). Collective behavior in animal groups: theoretical models and empirical studies. HFSP Journal,2(4), 205–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J., Vlachos, P., & Telionis, D. (2005). Experimental determination of lift and lift distributions for wings in formation flight. In 43rd AIAA aerospace sciences meeting and exhibit (p. 843).

  • Hainsworth, F. R. (1987). Precision and dynamics of positioning by Canada geese flying in formation. Journal of Experimental Biology,128(1), 445–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., & Abdelkefi, A. (2017). Classifications, applications, and design challenges of drones: A review. Progress in Aerospace Sciences,91, 99–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., Abdelmoula, H., Ayed, S. B., & Abdelkefi, A. (2017). Thermal impact of migrating birds’ wing color on their flight performance: Possibility of new generation of biologically inspired drones. Journal of Thermal Biology,66, 27–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., Abdelmoula, H., Mohammadi, S., Bakhtiyarov, S., Goerlich, J., & Javed, U. (2019a). Aquatic animal colors and skin temperature: Biology’s selection for reducing oceanic dolphin’s skin friction drag. Journal of Thermal Biology,84, 292–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., Ayed, S. B., Ali, M., Houde, P., Hocut, C., & Abdelkefi, A. (2018a). Insights on the thermal impacts of wing colorization of migrating birds on their skin friction drag and the choice of their flight route. Journal of Thermal Biology,72, 81–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., Pellerito, V., Sedaghat, A., Sabri, F., Borvayeh, L., & Sadeghi, S. (2019b). Aerodynamics loads variations of wings with novel heating of top surface: Bioinspiration and experimental study. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science,109, 109884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanalian, M., Throneberry, G., Ali, M., Ayed, S. B., & Abdelkefi, A. (2018b). Role of wing color and seasonal changes in ambient temperature and solar irradiation on predicted flight efficiency of the Albatross. Journal of Thermal Biology,71, 112–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, L. A., Balachandran, S., Batbayar, N., Butler, P. J., Chua, B., Douglas, D. C., et al. (2013). The paradox of extreme high-altitude migration in bar-headed geese Anser indicus. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,280(1750), 20122114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heintzelman, D. S., MacClay, R. (2019). Flock Sizes of Migrating Canada Geese in Eastern Pennsylvania in Autumn. Retrieved December 17, 2019 from http://www.dvoc.org/CassiniaOnLine/Cassinia57/C57Pages25.pdf.

  • Heppner, F. H. (1974). Avian flight formations. Bird-Banding,45(2), 160–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heppner, F. H., Convissar, J. L., Moonan, D. E., Jr., & Anderson, J. G. (1985). Visual angle and formation flight in Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). The Auk,102, 195–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hummel, D. (1983). Aerodynamic aspects of formation flight in birds. Journal of Theoretical Biology,104(3), 321–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hummel, D. (1995). Formation flight as an energy-saving mechanism. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution,41(3), 261–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kshatriya, M., & Blake, R. W. (1992). Theoretical model of the optimum flock size of birds flying in formation. Journal of Theoretical Biology,157(2), 135–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindström, Å. (1989). Finch flock size and risk of hawk predation at a migratory stopover site. The Auk,106(2), 225–232.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Lissaman, P. B. S., & Shollenberger, C. A. (1970). Formation Flight of Birds. Science,168(3934), 1003–1005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, J. L. (1981). Introduced Birds of the World. Agricultural Protection Board of Western Australia (pp. 21–493).

  • Madge, S., & Burn, H. (1988). Waterfowl: an identification guide to the ducks, geese, and swans of the world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirzaeinia, A., Bradfield, Q., Bradley, S., & Hassanalian, M. (2019). Energy Saving of Echelon Flocking Northern bald ibises with Variable wingtips spacing: Possibility of New Swarming for Drones. In AIAA Propulsion and Energy Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1922 August 2019.

  • Mirzaeinia, A., Hassanalian, M., Lee, K., & Mirzaeinia, M. (2019b). Energy conservation of V-shaped swarming fixed-wing drones through position reconfiguration. Aerospace Science and Technology,94, 105398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathan, A., & Barbosa, V. C. (2008). V-like formations in flocks of artificial birds. Artificial life,14(2), 179–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ning, S. A. (2011). Aircraft drag reduction through extended formation flight. PhD Dissertation, Stanford University, 2011.

  • Ogilvie, M. A., & Young, S. (2002). Wildfowl of the World. Wahroonga: New Holland Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piersma, T., Zwarts, L., & Bruggemann, J. H. (1990). Behavioural aspects of the departure of waders before long-distance flights: flocking, vocalizations, flight paths and diurnal timing. Ardea,78(2), 157–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seiler, P., Pant, A., & Hedrick, K. (2002) Analysis of bird formations. In Proceedings of the 41st IEEE conference on decision and control (vol. 1, pp. 118–123).

  • Sewatkar, C. M., Sharma, A., & Agrawal, A. (2010). A first attempt to numerically compute forces on birds in V formation. Artificial Life,16(3), 245–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegfried, W. R., & Underhill, L. G. (1975). Flocking as an anti-predator strategy in doves. Animal Behaviour,23, 504–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thien, H. P., Moelyadi, M. A., & Muhammad, H. (2008). Effects of leaders position and shape on aerodynamic performances of V flight formation. arXiv preprint arXiv: 0804.3879.

  • Voelkl, B., Portugal, S. J., Unsöld, M., Usherwood, J. R., Wilson, A. M., & Fritz, J. (2015). Matching times of leading and following suggest cooperation through direct reciprocity during V-formation flight in ibis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,112(7), 2115–2120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wege, M. L., & Raveling, D. G. (1984). Flight speed and directional responses to wind by migrating Canada Geese. The Auk,101(2), 342–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Hassanalian.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mirzaeinia, A., Heppner, F. & Hassanalian, M. An analytical study on leader and follower switching in V-shaped Canada Goose flocks for energy management purposes. Swarm Intell 14, 117–141 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11721-020-00179-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11721-020-00179-x

Keywords

Navigation