Nov 4, 2011
Thousands of starlings perform a remarkable, shape-shifting aerial dance
From Time Magazine…
No one knows why they do it. Yet each fall, thousands of starlings dance in the twilight above Gretna, Scotland. The birds gather in magical shape-shifting flocks called murmurations, having migrated in the millions from Russia and Scandinavia to escape winter’s bite. Scientists aren’t sure how they do it, either. Even complex algorithmic models haven’t yet explained the starlings’ acrobatics, which rely on the tiny bird’s quicksilver reaction time of under 100 milliseconds to avoid aerial collisions—and predators—in the giant flock.
And here’s a video of the phenomenon in Ireland…
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You can see the same thing, on a much smaller scale, in central Iowa and probably many other places. It’s no less impressive on a smaller scale (someday I fear I will drive off the road due to watching these birds), but I would guess it’s less frightning on a smaller scale!
There are glories yet untold!
Amazing! The wonders of God’s creation!
This is awesome. It’s incredible when people are at the right place at the right time…with a video camera.
There is a glorious “Watching” from on high.
Sometimes we’re allowed a glimpse!
I saw this once while I was driving home from seattle. It scared me at first, I thought it was a swarm of some kind of insect, but as I watched them dance and weave I realized it was tiny birds. By the time I had gotten turned around on the freeway they had disappeared.
We have also seen swallows do this, here in Alberta, Canada. Again not in such huge numbers, usually at dusk at the end of a hot summer day. Absolutely awesome.
A study was held in Rome (I think) about the flight paths of starlings, and they discovered that each bird follows and makes note of the paths of seven other birds… that explains how they are so interwoven like that… This is completely from memory, and I have no sources to back me up, so before you go tell this to a harvard professor, look it up first..