Thursday, April 26, 2012

For My Bird Loving Friends.

This is amazing!




No one knows why they do it. Yet each fall, thousands of starlings dance in the twilight above England and Scotland. The birds gather in shape-shifting flocks called murmurations, having migrated in the millions from Russia and Scandinavia to escape winter’s frigid bite. Scientists aren’t sure how they do it, either. The starlings' murmurations are manifestations of swarm intelligence, which in different contexts is practised by schools of fish, swarms of bees and colonies of ants. As far as I am aware, even complex algorithmic models haven’t yet explained the starlings’ aerobatics, which rely on the tiny birds' quicksilver reaction time of under 100 milliseconds to avoid aerial collisions—and predators—in the giant flock.
Despite their tour de force in the dusky sky, starlings have declined significantly in the UK in recent years, perhaps because of a decline in suitable nesting sites. The birds still roost in several of Britain’s rural pastures, however, settling down to sleep (and chatter) after their evening ballet.
Two young ladies were out for a late afternoon canoe ride and fortunately one of them remembered to bring her video camera. What they saw was a wonderful murmuration display, caught in the short video - URL is below. Watch the variation of colour and intensity of the patterns that the birds make in proximity to one other. And take a look at the girl in the bow of the canoe watching the aerial display. Enjoy.










13 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

That was amazing - how do they know when and how to do that? sandie

Debbie said...

goosebumps jill...it looked like a tornado at times!!

how amazing, i can't even imangine seeing this for real!!

TexWisGirl said...

i have seen this. it is amazing. :)

Anonymous said...

What an amazing thing to have witnessed. Thanks for sharing the video!

Lynne said...

Amazingly beautiful . . . Thank you for sharing Jill!

Charade said...

That is one of the most sensational things I've ever seen. I can only imagine how much more stunning it is in person. I love Mother Nature!

Julie Marie said...

Truly amazing Jill... Nature is such a huge part of my life... I learn something new every day... xoxo Julie Marie

momto8 said...

I remember showing this to my kids..how cool is this?! thanks !! amazing really.

Ellie said...

Wow, what a beautiful sight - I got goosebumps too. I can't even imagine how great that would be to see in real life. Thanks for sharing.

mary i said...

Wow!! I have seen small murmers but that just leaves me in awe..Thank you for sharing..

Donna said...

Oh my gosh!! I've never, ever seen so many birds! It looked as if they were performing a ballet!

Jill, you always find the most interesting and wonderful things to show us! AMAZING!

Blessings,
Donna

Lisa said...

Jill , I love the Mumuration , I did see on like it the other day but nothing like this one.

Blessed Serendipity said...

This is beautifully amazing! I love it. Thanks for sharing it Jill.

xo,
Danielle