Studying social relationships - Why and how?

In the title of my project I have mentioned social relationships. However, in the project outline is not explained properly the reason I included them in my study and how I intend to investigate them (mainly for space problems!). So, as we have this beautiful tool that are lab notes, I can tell you more about this.

WHY social relationships?

Why are social relationships included in my project? The Northern bald ibis is a social species and also in the wild they live in colonies. Moreover, also during the migration, they travel in small groups. If observed for quite some time, it is clear that an individual is more prone to be near certain others, as they were "friends". As this happens when the birds are on the floor (while feeding for example), it could be an important factor also when they are flying. As such, I need to take it into consideration.

My hypothesis is that social relationships do have an influence on how birds position themselves inside the V-formation and on how they exchange.

 

In the picture a group of wild Northern bald ibises on a cliff. Credit: Waldrappteam.

HOW to study them?

To understand better this phenomenon, I need to compare the interactions that the birds have, both on the floor and while flying. While flying it is impossible to do visual observations, so I use the GNSS loggers. On the floor, it is way easier to do direct observations. To carry out those, I will seat not to far from the birds and observe them with a binocular, taking notes of their behaviours. I usually concentrate on one bird at the time but in one observation, all the individuals of the group are observed. It is possible to distinghish the individuals as all the birds wear two leg rings: one has colours (which of course differentiate from bird to bird) and the other has a number. During my observation, I note down specific behaviours, but the most important one of all is vicinity. What I basically do is looking at one bird and writing down who is the nearest to him. The principle behind this kind of observation is that individuals that stay more often near to each other is because they are socially bonded. In easier words (maybe too easy, but it's just to make it clear), they are "friends". The relationships among the juveniles will be monitored before, during and after the migration, to keep track of eventual changes in the social structure of the group.