And I could also add that the birds we had long ago were well dispersed in
wet areas throughout 10 acres.
If I approached too close (closer than 10 feet!) they would simply fly a
short distance.
But I didn't see them come in or leave, so can't comment on flocking
behavior.
Bob OBrien
On Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 9:40 PM JOHN S MC DONALD <bigrocketman@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I should have added to my first post about the flocking snipe during heavy
snow conditions near Eugene, that during those same occasions, the killdeer
also flocked together during flight, sometimes in even greater numbers than
the snipe. They also flew in tight formation and made the same dunlin-style
synchronized turns. It seems that type of flocking during flight is
something embedded in their common shorebird behavior, that is expressed
only during those extreme weather conditions. There were much larger
populations of those two species in the Willamette Valley, before so much
wetland area was covered with housing. But since there's still a lot of
that habitat remaining, farther out from the cities, there are obviously
other reasons for their decline.
Steve McDonald
http://flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/
http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos
