Raptors avoid the confusion effect by targeting fixed points in dense aerial prey aggregations

Flocking, schooling, and swarming prey are thought to benefit from a confusion effect. However, here the authors show that hawks attacking swarming bats avoid confusion by steering towards a fixed point in the swarm instead of targeting any one individual.

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Caroline H. Brighton, Laura N. Kloepper, Christian D. Harding, Lucy Larkman, Kathryn McGowan, Lillias Zusi, Graham K. Taylor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2022-08-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32354-5