Dr. Andrea Flack

My work combines the fields of collective animal behaviour and movement ecology. During my PhD at the University of Oxford, I explored collective decision-making in homing pigeons. At the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, I study the collective migration of a freely-flying long-distance migrant. My research relies on the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) as a model system for studying collective migration.

My ongoing research focuses on two broad directions that are at the frontier of bird migration research. 1) I elucidate the elements that shape short-term migratory decisions using various experimental and observational approaches. 2) With a broader focus, I examine the evolutionary ecology of social migration by examining population-level processes and migratory culture.

Using state-of-the-art high-resolution biologging, including high-resolution GPS, accelerometers, magnetometers, heart rate loggers, and on-board cameras, in combination with experimental approaches like delayed-releases, translocations, and cross-fostering experiments, we are exploring the underlying causes for behavioral variation among individuals from within and across populations.


Feel free to contact me, if you are interested in what we are doing!