A murmuration is a large flock of starlings flying together in unison often resulting in swirling, undulating displays of natural beauty.
In the UK murmurations occur in the late autumn and winter months when native starlings are joined by birds from across Europe that have migrated to the UK to benefit from the relatively milder winter conditions.
Safety in Numbers
It is generally considered starlings murmurate to employ the theory of ‘safety in numbers’ and reduce their chances of being predated. When in a large flock there are many pairs of eyes looking for potential threats and statistically an individual is less likely to be caught.
Even in a large flock there is still a threat from predators and those birds at the edge of the group are at a higher overall risk of being caught. As a result individual starlings will constantly attempt to move to minimise their time at the edge of the flock. This act of self preservation leads to a knock-on effect as other individuals react to their neighbours movements constantly striving for safety. This is what is thought to cause the impressive pulsating displays of unified aerobatics that make mumurations so impressive.
Birds of a Feather…
These enormous murmurations are usually seen at dusk, during the day starlings are sociable but tend to gather in much smaller groups. Towards late afternoon these smaller groups join together and make their way to very large communal roosting areas sometimes frequented by over a million individuals.
The video below shows a flock of starlings (possibly already several merged groups) taking flight destined for their winter night-time roost.
These huge social roosts offer safety, mutual warmth from shared body-heat and the opportunity to communicate information relating to the best feeding grounds. There doesn’t seem to be much scientific evidence for exactly how they communicate this information, but it is generally considered another reason for these large nocturnal gatherings.
Anyone lucky enough to be watching a murmuration will often see groups of birds peeling off from the main flock and dropping into the roost group by group until no birds remain in the sky.
These roosts are commonly found in evergreen trees and shrubs or even man made structures such as the seaside piers or derelict buildings.
Now or Never
Sadly, as is the case with many bird species, starling numbers are dropping alarmingly fast. In the UK the starling population is reported to have dropped by over 80% in the last 50 years. The reasons for this decline are depressingly familiar with the impact of human expansion and intensive farming destroying the habitats and food sources upon which these birds depend.
So…the advice is, get out and find a murmuration while you can, because if humanity carries on the way it is, they could soon be a thing of the past.
Update – April 11th 2025 – The Big Garden Birdwatch Results
The RSPBs Big Garden Bird watch results are in, sadly starlings are now being seem in gardens less than any previous years results.