If you were lucky enough to see a murmuration of starlings, then you might compare it to a scene from a sci-fi movie where aliens or genetically modified locusts fill and darken the sky. This is what happened on the busy highway showcased in this video! Even though the video is not long, the starlings have certainly put on a show! The murmuration slides gracefully to the left, then to the right, then all the way to the back, and finally comes close to our lucky cameraman and displays its sheer magnitude one last time. At one point, the murmuration of starlings fills the entire frame! This is really a must-watch video for bird and incredible phenomena enthusiasts alike.
How Big Are Starling Murmurations?
A starling murmuration that is considered substantial consists of up to 1,000 birds (minimum 500). On the other hand, a large murmuration can have as many as 100,000 starlings or even more! This is the main reason why the video presented below is more than just impressive. It’s worth noting, however, that numbers are only part of what makes a starling murmuration incredible. Murmurations of a few hundred birds usually last just a couple of seconds. When the numbers increase, just like in the video, they can extend to a minute or more. Murmurations, unlike flocks, are characterized by the fact that the birds constantly change flight direction as well as elevation. Astonishing murmurations like the one presented below fly up a couple of hundred meters only to zoom down afterward, seemingly to their inevitable demise. Judging by the coordination and patterns created in the video, the murmuration presented is likely to consist of European starlings. The species is known for incredible coordination and rather complex flight patterns during murmuration. On top of that, one of the biggest European starling murmurations is believed to have contained close to 750,000 birds. Now, can you even fathom a dusky sky filled to the brim with starlings? Well, this video shows a part of it!
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