I have so many questions, starting with HOW?
do they not crash into each other? and WHY do they fly these circular patterns for 1-2 minutes, then land? And do it again later? After I learn how and why pigeons fly around like this, I want to know how the Sony camera keeps them in focus! (and yes, I d...
From what I know
Pigeons tend to fly in circles for short bursts of time as a sort of exercise and training, especially for the youngsters. Of course if they see a predator they will also fly in a similar manner.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m astonished to see so many different groups of birds gathered in one area.
It’s probably too naive to think that they aren’t territorial at all…but they still strike me as being more lenient than animals. Picture 13 is particularly interesting with that white beak duck and red eyes.
Birds flew up to look at the car!
First bird saw a camera and couldn't tell if it was a device that shot photos or shot pictures. All the other birds, following herd mentality, also few up in a frenzy. With lightning fast reaction time, they rarely if ever collide. The remaining birds fle...
What you are describing is emergence
It happens when a group shows properties that can't be found in its individual constituents. In this case you could call it collective intelligence, but it is a branch of chaos and complexity theory in physics. Our brilliant Nobel prize laureate in physic...
OK I answered the original question...
...before reading your answer, sorry about that.
For the question 1
I believe that an Italian Physics professor and Nobel laureate described that.