Team GB in the Bird world
Earlier this month a flock of starlings was spotted performing their synchronised dancing in the sky over Station Road, here in Bury’ before roosting at the bottom of Cannon Street. This is called murmurating. Starlings are medium-sized, very chatty and gregarious songbirds; they used to be common garden birds but have suffered enormous declines in the last 30 years. My father planted one of the first vineyards in Suffolk in the early 70s and at harvest time we would see thousands of them some years, congregating in the mature Elm trees – also long gone – waiting for the grapes to ripen. As children, my sisters and I were sent out with biscuit tin lids and wooden spoons to move them on, but our clatter would be drowned out by their excited warbles, whistle, rattles and liquid sounds as the flock hurried to another part of the vineyard. When a flock of that size moved on, the sky would darken with thousands of dark brown wings taking to the air.
Starlings are very adept at spectacular aerial displays in autumn and winter. Flocks can be up to 100,000 birds and the high speed murmurations work because these are agile birds, flying in close coordination. Large flocks have been spotted recently at Lackford Lakes, the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve and over farmland in Gt Barton, but it’s exciting to see them in town.
There are several theories as to why starlings do acrobatics in the sky. It might help individuals avoid being predated, as the display creates a confusing vision that could confuse birds of prey or intimidate them. It may be to do with keeping warm, all that movement from thousands of birds would generate a lot of heat in the vicinity of the group, or it may be a way of sharing information within the flock. As one bird starts descending towards a good roosting site, the whole flock follows, as they roost in numbers. It may be a combination of reasons or there may be some other explanation we haven’t observed yet.
One thing that’s not in doubt is the feeling you have when you witness a murmuration, especially one of size where some of the accidental patterns they create are like ephemeral art in the sky.
Other animals such as fish show similar behaviours and we believe we have witnessed one or two of these in the River Lark, where big shoals teemed together maybe to protect themselves, using the same safety in numbers strategy as starlings. The term ‘murmuration’ is used specially to describe the graceful patterns starlings make but other birds have similar behaviours. New research is being undertaken into starlings’ murmurations and the scientists behind it want you to take part! If you see a murmuration, take note of the time and location and go to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/starlings to input your results. Research like this can help the species weather any changes that future climate change may bring.
Jillian Macready
BWMG Trustee
photo credit: Pat Needham
