Blackbirds

I love to watch the blackbirds on the wires at the LGVSD Ponds. This morning I stood there for half an hour, observing their behavior. Their orderly spacing is what fascinates me most, and I have often wondered as to how they do it. Today I found the answer. When a new bird settles on the wire, the birds on either side do a sort of shuffle away from the new arrival, and this shuffle is repeated by the birds next to them. The further away from the new bird, the shorter the shuffle. It's an amazing and very peaceful procedure, with the result being a rather orderly distribution along the wire. Something today's "me, me, me" generation of humans would do well to imitate!