Competition as a way of thinking also becomes all the more imperative given that territory is defined by the quality of its food resources. The calculation is therefore almost sown up in advance: if population density increases, the food supply diminishes – or, in other words, animals have no choice but to compete with one another. And that rules out an observation which, given the potential for distancing that territories primarily seem to provide, had at a very early stage left some researchers somewhat puzzled: the fact that, paradoxically, territorial animals seem to seek out the presence of others.

— Living As a Bird by Vinciane Despret, Helen Morrison (Page 68)