Re pecking order:

To some, it is just a phrase. To others, who have spent considerable time around birds, it is reality. In addition to being excellent, multi purpose tools for foraging, etc., avian beaks are fearsome weapons. Yes, they are constantly used to enforce the flock hierarchy. Used mercilessly I might add, but not with exceptional or "untoward" brutality.

In every hierarchy, each individual is constantly doing 2 things—watching the one above for signs of weakness and at the same time defending against the one below. A hierarchy is necessarily fluid and perilous. You know what they say–you meet the same people on the way up that you meet on the way down.

In the case of birds/animals, the pecking order is absolutely necessary for the common good. The key word is "order." While the individual struggles to rise or maintain status, the good of the flock/herd requires definitive establishment of the rankings. Every creature knows exactly where they stand.

What happens when a creature who has been on top becomes sick or injured? I will tell you what—they are treated mercilessly. Have seen a #1 hen dying, being brutally pecked by those she once ruled over. This is how it is for humans too. At #3 of a huge & powerful organizaton, Pell can expect to be savaged both by those above and those below, none of them caring a whit for him other than for what good he may do them personally. If he is now a liability, he can expect aid from only a handful of fellow perps.