No one knows why they do it. Yet each fall, thousands of starlings dance in the twilight above
England and Scotland. The birds gather in shape-shifting flocks called murmurations, having
migrated in the millions from Russia and Scandinavia to escape winter’s frigid bite.
Scientists aren’t sure how they do it, either. The starlings’ murmurations are manifestations of swarm
intelligence, which in different contexts is practiced by schools of fish, swarms of bees and
colonies of ants. As far as I am aware, even complex algorithmic models haven’t yet explained
the starlings aerobatics, which rely on the tiny birds’ quicksilver reaction time of under 100
milliseconds to avoid aerial collisions and predators in the giant flock.
Despite their tour de force in the dusky sky, starlings have declined significantly in the UK in
recent years, perhaps because of a decline in suitable nesting sites. The birds still roost in
several of Britain’s rural pastures, however, settling down to sleep (and chatter) after their
evening ballet.
Two young ladies were out for a late afternoon canoe ride and fortunately one of them
remembered to bring her video camera. What they saw was a wonderful murmuration display,
caught in the short video – URL is below. Watch the variation of colour and intensity of the
patterns that the birds make in proximity to one other. And take a look at the girl in the bow of
the canoe watching the aerial display. Enjoy.
Amazing. Thank you for sharing!
That’s one of the great things about this blog—you are always in store for a treat.
My husband and I were in awe of this capture of nature. Beautiful!