Empirical test of the many-wrongs hypothesis reveals weighted averaging of individual routes in pigeon flocks

Our data showed that larger homing pigeon flocks had significantly more efficient (i.e. shorter) homing routes than smaller flocks, consistent with previous findings and with the predictions of the many-wrongs hypothesis. However, a heuristic optimization procedure showed that flock routes were not simply averages of individual routes, but instead that pigeons that more faithfully recapitulated their routes during individual flights had proportionally greater influence on their flocks’ routes.