A mechanistic understanding of collective escape in starling flocks
Author(s)
Date Issued
May 18, 2026
Type
article
ISSN
2399-3642
Journal
Abstract
Large flocks of European starlings change shape, size, and internal structure continuously and
rapidly when hunted by aerial predators. How their diverse patterns of collective escape emerge is
still unknown. Here, we disentangle the collective behavior of starlings combining video footage
of flocks pursued by a robotic predator and a data-driven 3-dimentional agent-based model. In
vivo, we show that flock members often differ in their evasive maneuvers and that several
collective patterns arise simultaneously across a flock. In silica, we identify individual-level rules
that lead to dynamics of collective motion and escape similar to real starlings. Our results suggest
that the mechanisms underlying starling murmurations depend on how fast escape information
propagates through the flock, the relative positions of the escaping individuals to the predator, and
the previous state of the flock (hysteresis). Our study highlights the importance of investigating
fine-scale dynamics and micro-macro feedback when studying self-organized adaptive systems.
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Name
Papadopoulou et al Comm Biol 2026.pdf
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6.84 MB
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