Sometimes, two such units will join forces. So possibly 5 cranes, or occasionally a few more, may be flying together-but not the entire flock. A. One advantage is fewer of the birds would get hurt if an accident occurs. The cranes can't afford for a large group of them to die. Finding food is easier for a smaller group than for a whole flock.
Smaller groups can fly at different rates to help the inexperienced flyers.
Cranes traveling in small groups can hide more easily from predators that might kill them. And it might be easier for a small group to find a place to rest. When a territorial pair departs, their neighbors to leave shortly afterwards. Departures are never randomly spread across the wintering grounds. Instead, they occur in clumped patterns.