Starling Murmuration over water. Blackpool, Lancashire. 13th Jan 2017. The last waltz before bed, a swarm of thousands of starlings roosting under Blackpool Victorian north pier. These fantastic birds put on a stunning flight display at one of only a handful of their favourite sites throughout the UK. On windy days, the enormous flocks of murmuring starlings whose numbers are estimated at 20,000 plus take to resting momentarily on the beach at low tide.
On windy days, the huge flocks of mumurating starlings whose numbers are estimated at 20,000 plus take to resting momentarily on the beach at low tide. The noise they make can be described as a mumur or chatter, but is quite intense and is thought to form part of a communication of sorts. The interaction between the huge numbers is amazing and is thought to be formed on the single principal of maintaining a defined distance to nearest neighbour. In this close knit formation they then appear to form, what are in effect, random shapes depending on the viewer's viewpoint.
Size: 3550px × 2366px
Location: Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bird, birds, birdwatching, blackpool, britain, british, coast, coastal, declining, display, displaying, dusk, endangered, england, english, flight, flock, flocks, flying, gb, great, kingdom, lancashire, list, mumurating, mumuration, murmuration, numbers, ornithology, overnight, pier, protection, red, roost, roosting, roosts, royal, rspb, seaside, silhouette, silhouetted, society, species, starling, starlings, sundown, sunset, sunsets, threatened, twilight, uk, united, urban, weather, west, winter
