Natural Weekends – A Mini-Murmuration of Starlings

I haven’t pivoted to video yet on this blog, so you’ll have to make do with some still photos of a small murmuration of starlings on the creek the other week. It is easy to understand how this kind of flocking of starlings became called a murmuration, as the low humming sound of their beating wings against the air was quite audible, even above their constant chirping.

The question of why starlings murmurate has not really been answered. The current theory is that it is a form of protection against predators. But I’m not persuaded. In our area it seems to me, these flocks of starlings gather together in large groups, hanging out in the same tree for days sometimes, more often in the late summer and early fall. This would support other theories that they flock for warmth and to communicate feeding sights. Whatever the case, they are undoubtedly social creatures who love to chat, constantly.

How they manage to fly in such close groups without colliding is better understood. The move of one starling creates an almost immediate reaction, in apparently under 100 milliseconds, to the seven closest starlings around it, allowing for the twisting clouds of birds moving together, often in differing directions, without a single crash.