Sunday, April 27, 2025

November 7, 2014

Swarming Starlings Put On Incredible Visual Display [Images]

Look, the chances are that if I was not seeing this from the safety of my home, behind some thick glass, where no bird could ever peck out my eyes, I wouldn't enjoy it. But the pictures are beautiful...

I love birds that migrate. Hundreds of thousands of tiny little flying things crossing continents and the Sahara twice a year. I love when they arrive home in Spring and build their new nests. I grew up with swallows that came back every year and still do (obviously there are some great-great-great-grandchildren involved in this…). Hundreds of swallows would, every evening for a few weeks, fly around together and then all land as one. It was beautiful to watch.

These Gretna starlings in southern Scotland have been putting on some serious displays. Have a look-see.

It’s not known why these birds do this, but there are a few theories.

“Another theory could be they are signalling a large roost and it could be a way of attracting other birds to that area to build up a big flock as it would be warmer. It’s much warmer to roost as a big group rather than a smaller one and the murmurations can be as big as 100,000 birds.”

That makes sense. They can all cuddle in the cold.

Check out The BBC for more bird pictures.