Murmuration of starlings

Last Saturday was an interval of clear weather and deep blue skies; the sky was scoured clean from rains that had been falling for days, and John and I were on our way to check out Brownsville, Oregon, a tiny historic town. Sometimes I know when I will see something interesting (Brownsville) and other times the interesting things just happen suddenly, like this.


From the car window we saw sheep, muddy from the dark wet fields that they were grazing; the interesting thing was that they were joined by thousands of singing starlings, birds that were happy to be grounded, happy to be feeding on insects and seeds, happy to be in the sun.


There were so many, and they sounded so joyful. They moved with the sheep, who were cautious of our stopped car.


In the UK starling populations have declined, despite the tenacious and adaptable quality of the species. But here they are "America's Most Hated Bird." You probably know they were introduced in 1890 by a group that wanted the New World to contain all of the birds ever mentioned by Shakespeare, and had it not been for Scene 3 of Henry IV we might not be seeing these birds on the west coast of the US. They have been responsible for plane crashes, and in 2008, the US government trapped, poisoned and shot over 1.7 million starlings, nuisance birds. The state of Washington, where starlings have damaged many crops, has killed more starlings than any other: 650,000 in one year. Poison is sprinkled on dog food or french fries, a favorite starling snack. Still, the populations are huge. (Source: Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY)

Last Saturday they were so amazing.

Those flocks. How do they manage to stay together in the air? Researchers studying the movement of starlings have concluded that they follow the healthiest individuals of their population. Watching the individual in front of them, they make few mistakes. They flock by the thousands, at high speeds, gracefully and flawlessly. The word for such a flock of starlings is "murmuration," a reference to the sound that they make when so many of them fly in formation. I think it is my new favorite word.




This is a short video of starlings flocking over Rome, apparently Europe's favorite meeting place for them.