Blackpool, Lancashire, UK 22nd Jan 2016. UK weather. Starling mumuration at sunset. The skies darken over part of Blackpool as tens of thousands of starlings congregate over Blackpool North and Central Piers forming ever-changing shapes in the sky over the Irish Sea as the flocks seemingly celebrate with day with a last waltz. Many, many thousands of these birds gather at sunset to swirl, swoop, swarm, mumurate and appear to dance in the sky before collectively going to roost.
A murmuration of starlings is an amazing sight - a swooping mass of thousands of birds whirling in the sky above your head. What's going on? It's basically a mass aerial stunt - thousands of birds all swooping and diving in unison. It's completely breathtaking to witness. We think that starlings do it for many reasons. Grouping together offers safety in numbers – predators such as peregrine falcons find it hard to target one bird in the middle of a hypnotising flock of thousands. They also gather to keep warm at night and to exchange information, such as good feeding areas. They gather over their roosting site, and perform their wheeling stunts before they roost for the night.
Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Nantwich, Cheshire, UK.
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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