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Rooks are highly gregarious birds and are generally seen in flocks of various sizes. Males and females pair-bond for life and pairs stay together within flocks. In the evening, the birds often congregate at their rookery before moving off to their chosen communal roosting site.
A 1977 study of roosting rooks by Ian Swingland showed that an inherent hierarchy exists within rook communal roosts. In this hierarchy, the most dominant individuals have been shown to routinely occupy the roosts highest in the tree, and while they pay a cost (increased energy use to keep warm) they are safer from terrestrial predators. [ 9 ]
A rookery is a colony breeding rooks, and more broadly a colony of several types of breeding animals, generally gregarious [1] birds. [2] Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds [3] of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals (true seals or sea lions), and even some turtles.
Successful males congregate in the same area as the previous breeding season because it is familiar to them, while females return to reunite with their males. Females do not return to a mating site if their male partner is not present. [40] Another possible explanation for lek stability is from male hierarchies within a lek.
Western jackdaws frequently congregate with hooded crows [35] or rooks, [37] the latter particularly when migrating or roosting. [57] They have been recorded foraging with the common starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ), Northern lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus ), and common gull ( Larus canus ) in northwestern England. [ 57 ]
Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony. Colonial nesting birds include seabirds such as auks and albatrosses ; wetland species such as herons ; and a few passerines such as weaverbirds , certain blackbirds , and some swallows .
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The birds then congregate in massive flocks made up of several different species for migratory purposes. Some birds make use of teamwork while hunting. Predatory birds hunting in pairs have been observed using a "bait and switch" technique, whereby one bird will distract the prey while the other swoops in for the kill.