Friday 5 October 2007

Number of individuals in a flock

A small experiment. How many birds are visible on this photo? 75, 100, 150, or even more? Take a chance and make a first estimation without really going into the process of counting them. It seems that large flocks are at first sight underestimated, even by experienced bird migration watchers. Anyhow, I did the hard work for you and there are 146 Sanderlings (Calidris alba/Drieteenteenstrandloper) present. And how did you perform? Was my conjecture about underestimation right?

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