[REDD (OP)]

Lately, in the news there was some footage from Israel shownig murmuration of starlings, like this:

I wonder, why?
I guess falcons will not get scared, just like dolphins are not scared by sardine shoals...
And why before the night (if that info is accurate)?

[Don_1]

You wonder why, well, you're not alone.

These murmurations of Starlings may consist of 50,000 individuals and are commonplace in the British skies around dusk as the birds return to their roost.

Explanations for this 'ballet of the skies' (as it is often called) range from confusing predators to simple social exchange. How such tightly packed murmurations manage to choreograph themselves so they avoid collision is also quite the natural wonder.

Just look at this murmuration in the skies over Gretna:

Picture from BBC News South Scotland.

Does that look familiar?



The Society of Biology and Gloucestershire University would like help in their study of these events:
Starling Murmuration Survey.