A beautiful bird display!

[Tobi]

A video of 'Starling Murmurations' (that is when a large group of Starlings form the most wonderful shapes in flight.)

This is the best video I could find. It's quite amazing.

http://youtu.be/M1Q-EbX6dso

[Catherine]

That is amazing. The starlings here do not do that(I have never heard of it).
They are so graceful as a group. I like the starlings. They shouldn't be here, they were introduced, but they are interesting birds. All summer long I see moms being chased by hungry babies.

I wish they would fly in groups like that.

[LPC]

Tobi, that is one of the most wonderful murmurations I have ever seen. That's really something! And the music is so haunting, I tracked it down on YouTube and have bookmarked it.

Thank you for an inspiring thread.

[Tobi]

The starlings are absolutely stunning when in flight like that.
I see them do that where I live, but never in such a spectacular way, and it always happens to be on a day when I don't have my phone (ie camera) with me!
They make these formations when there is a predator about -like a sparrowhawk.

Yes LPC, the music is by Ludovico Einaudi.
I had never heard of him....and then I started to notice Misty liked the music whenever it came on Classic FM. I noted what music it was and which composer. Soon I began to like it very much too. We used to listen to his music so often during the evenings, and when in the car. She introduced me to a lot of music and composers I didn't know about before! And now I love this....

Here is a You Tube link to a whole lot of his tunes. They are all beautiful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmMnYM9DoEc

[Catherine]

The music and the birds are beautiful. Do starlings really do that regularly. Maybe we don't have big enough flocks here. Our starlings are very much city birds. I see small groups that hang around food sources. I am afraid by introducing them to a new location they have lost the one thing they do that is special.

I would love to see starlings fly like that.

The music is beautiful. I think Misty and I would have had similar taste in music.

[Tobi]

Yes they do that regularly. I think maybe we have such stunning displays in UK because many millions of starlings migrate here to over-winter.
They usually fly in huge groups bunched together when there is a predator about, such as a hawk or buzzard.
Often if I see them do that I will have a good look, and will see a hawk trailing them or just above. Though not always! So that makes me wonder if they sometimes do it just for sheer fun! Either that, or I didn't see the predator, but it is there somewhere.
It is indeed quite a common sight in the UK in the winter. Though displays vary and some are more amazing than others.

[Catherine]

I didn't realize that starlings migrate. If they winter in England, where do they spend their summers?


Our birds do not migrate. They are introduced so they would have no idea where to go.

I think birds sing and fly in groups for the sheer joy of it. Think of it as bird art. We are not the only artists on the planet.

[Tobi]

I always imagined they came from further north -such as Scandinavia. But apparently they can come from any European country which has a harsher winter than the UK. That can include Russia. Usually Scandinavia and the Baltic. I never notice Starlings from about April onwards, and they start to arrive here and make their presence felt late Autumn. Usually October/November.

Farmers consider them a great nuisance. The other day I was talking to my neighbouring farmer, and he showed me a huge pile of cattle feed which had been thrown down from the edge of a silage 'clamp'. The winter feed is macerated corn (maize) as well as grass harvested the previous spring. The Starlings descend on it and can pull down massive quantities. I was quite amazed! The farmers construct nets over the edge of the clamp to stop them. He told me that if not stopped, they are capable of pulling down one third of the 'clamp' and that is a huge amount.
They have no shortage of food round here, but they like the sweet corn.

[Catherine]

Starlings are very clever. Here in the city, they go after garbage bags. They work as a group and can rip open a bag and get at the food within. They also eat insects and seeds. They will go after vegetable gardens, but there are no many of those in the city.

I am amazed to hear about how they live in their normal world. They are a clever bird so I can see how they would go after corn and get it.

They winter in England and fly to the rest of Europe for the summer.
Here they would have no sense of where to migrate to so no wonder they just stay all year round. Since they do not migrate, they do not form big flocks. They have certainly acclimatized here, but it is sad that we don't see the beautiful flight displays. Maybe people would respect them more if we did.

[Tobi]

Yes, sheer numbers and a dogged will to survive has often labelled many species as 'pests'. And often, little respect is given to those creatures we consider to be 'pests'.
Yet humans are also in that category.....Sheer numbers, and a dogged will to survive......IMO anyway! LOL

I admire starlings. They are tough little things, and very intelligent.

However...I don't park my car under the Oak tree from October through until April! They like to gather there en-masse, and poop.....guess what? My car gets covered in it! Little blighters! In winter I put my car in a different place.