Murmur who dares!

Well, starlings dare and when they do, it is the most incredible sight!  Actually, it is called a 'murmuration' but don't ask me where the word comes from.

Alas, down here in deepest, darkest 'Zummerzet' I never see them although there are starlings around.  They frequently bathe in my bird-bath on the patio, such tough, cocky, little birds.  When I lived up in Berkshire I used to drive to work through Windsor Great Park and I was frequently forced to stop to watch various massive murmurations.

I mention all this because in this week's 'Speccie', Isabel Hardman has an admiring article on the subject.  

Watching a starling murmuration is my version of going to evening prayer. It gives me the same slightly religious sense of wonder that I once felt in churches. The birds move in a thick shoal as they prepare for their evening roost in the winter months, crowding together to confuse predators who can’t focus on one to catch. When a sparrowhawk does get close, it pushes the birds into even stranger shapes in the sky. Fireworks seem so tame in comparison to the horses’ heads, dinosaurs, whales and mushroom clouds that starlings create in the sky, just for a moment, before flickering into another pattern. When I took some children to watch their first murmuration last winter, we all ooh-d and ahh-d as much as we’d do on bonfire night.  The wonder isn’t just in the shapes they make, but in how they know where to turn next so that they’re all together.

And she captures their character exactly:

It’s funny, because most people think starlings are boringly common, even slightly annoying birds. They can be quite noisy, and tend to empty garden bird feeders quicker than shoppers on Black Friday, squabbling all the while. But a close look reveals their bodies, which seem so black against the sky, are made up of speckly rainbows. And they are smart on the ground, too: these birds can mimic car alarms, other birds, even mobile phones as they cheekily call to one another.
In a crowd, they are little hooligans. In their great winter clouds, they’re one of the wonders of the world. [My emphasis]

Spot on, Ms. Hardman!

 

 

 

Comments

[JK]

"Murmuratio" help David?

[missred]

I have a love/hate relationship with Starlings. I love to watch them murmuring (they are currently in my neighbourhood) but my lord, do not park under a tree with berries when they are in town!

[JK]

Were I the mischievous sort Missred I'd mail you some poke seed for you to plant in your gardens next spring.

[Whyaxye]

Expect to see a few more around. Apparently Jeremy Corbyn is a Starlingist.

[David Duff]

'W', that was an appalling joke, so why I am helpless on the floor with giggles?!