Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Murmuration

I'm on my fourth iteration of a mirror for Mrs. Rose's room so there's no update on that front.

 In the meantime, I thought I would share this amazing video of starling murmuration.   Murmuration is when a flock of starlings fly and dance together in a mesmerizing wave.  It usually occurs just before dusk in the beginning of winter so the birds warm themselves before roosting for the night.



I had never heard of murmuration until a year or so ago when a Blogging Needle Friend named Shel Wood sent me this video. It was because of her that I was able to recognize the show that the birds performed for Jim and me this past weekend at the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge.

Though the flock we witnessed was not as large as the one in the video, the spectacle was just as awesome.  Enjoy.

19 comments:

flyingbeader said...

I've seen birds do this before, but never realized why or that there was a word. Awesome video of the waves.

Suztats said...

Beautiful! Thank you.

Teresa in Music City said...

Ahhhh!!!! Lovely - made my heart sing! I had to share it on my Facebook page :*) I actually saw something similar just this morning as I was driving, just a small flock of birds, but they were flying in patterns together and I couldn't take my eyes off them. My own heart dipped and swayed with their rhythms!

Linda H said...

Wow! Nature is awesome!! What an amazing thing to witness! We have the same phenomenon here in August on the shores of the Bay of Fundy with semi-palmated plovers. They stop to feed on the mud flats on their migration south... It's incredible to watch hundreds of thousands of them do the same "dance" in the sky...

Judy S. said...

Interesting! I've seen birds do this but never so many, and I didn't know the word for it. Thanks!

Elizabeth Braun said...

Wow! Have you noticed too how, during the more 'dense' flocks the birds seem to be about 3 different colours - blue, violet and green?? What an amazing visual! How anyone can believe in evolution stuns me, this just *had* to be designed in order to be so wonderfully choreographed.=)

Cari said...

Amazing...NATURE .... Thanks so much for sharing !!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

I came across videos of this amazing scene sometime back. It is so orchestrated, like a bird ballet. Truly wonderful.

Thanks for sharing this.

FlowerLady

Createology said...

The wonder of nature. I would think using all this energy would wear them out and make them get colder quicker. Truly amazing and thank you for sharing. I love learning something new each and every day! Blessings...

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Bird Ballet.. perfect!

Catherine said...

Simply stunning and mesmerizing!

Cathy said...

After your post yesterday (beautiful!), I looked up murmuration and watched several videos. This one you showed today, however is truly spectacular! And watching it while listening to my all-time favorite piece of music, Pachelbel's Canon, truly made my day! Thanks for another wonderful post! Hugs, Cat

tattrldy said...

Thanks for sharing this video. I, too, have seen this before, yearly in fact, but never known the word for it. The flocks of birds can literally stretch for miles in the fall when they do this. It is always amazing to watch.

Marie Alton said...

WOW ... how awesome nature can be!
One sure sign of fall for me is just this ... when starlings start to flock ... getting ready for their annual migration. But this video far surpasses anything I've seen when it comes to same! It's such a flow of movement ... to the extreme... crazy amazing how so many birds can occupy a finite space ... and not crash into each other! It is totally awesome!

margaret said...

what a wonderful video, and how lucky to witness such a gathering. Have seen them on the tv but have never witnessed anything like this myself, still you never know what is around the corner maybe one day.

Kathy said...

Murmuration occurs because each and every bird in the flock is trying to NOT be hawk food. They don't want to be near the outside edges of the flock. Herring do the same thing in the sea, for the same reason. (well, except not for hawks.) It's a very evolutionary process.
However one wants to attribute it, it is an absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking display of nature's beauty. My first husband and I watched a flock (or several) do this over cornfields one autumn- the birds stretched from horizon to horizon and covered most of the sky. We had to pull off the highway just to watch them.
You do not want to be under one of these bird clouds without an umbrella! I learned that when I lived near a starling roost in Holland. It's not nearly as beautiful to watch from directly below!

Rachel said...

A wonderful sight!

liniecat said...

We have to have words for things dont we, murmeration is quite a word!
But I prefer 'bird ballet' and the idea that things like that are simply the magic of mother earth : )

Starr White said...

I have witnessed this phenomenon so many times, but never knew it had a name! Thanks for sharing :)

Related Posts with Thumbnails