Here’s a little sketch I made using Processing. It’s based on a standard flocking program that Benjamin and Mary F. were playing around with; I added a second flock, some randomness in their coloring, and the concept of “weight.” Heavier boids move slower, turn slower, beat their wings slower and are more pudgy in shape. I also gave them all trails, using a simple transparent rectangle placed between frames (a very computationally cheap way to do this.)

Below is a screenshot of the Processing sketch. Click to load the applet in your browser window and see it in motion. That link also has the source code for the sketch.

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