Inter-species alliances

[monkeyrepublic]

I noticed when I moved here six years ago that the chaffinches were hanging with the blackbirds at the feeder. This year I'm down to one blackbird and he's hanging (a little behind) the jackdaws (chaffinches still in tow).

Meanwhile, tits (great, blue and long-tailed) form a separate clique (though they all seem to follow the same schedule, turning up at the same time).

Any experience or understanding of these alliances or schedules?

[AfternoonLemon]

Well it's generally common to see smaller birds stick together for safety in numbers, the more eyes and ears there are, the more chance they have of avoiding a surprise attack by a predator.

As for specific alliances, I'm not sure I've noticed really. Usually in my garden a flock of sparrows will arrive first, followed by tits and finches. The sparrows always fly directly into the climbers on one side of the garden, before gradually moving out towards the feeders. I'm certain they do they are checking out the area for danger first. Once they're on the feeders, other birds will move into the vicinity and await their turn.

Of course, once there are a large number of birds in the garden, the doves will arrive because they know there must be food. I think a lot of birds (not just the corvids) are smarter than we think