Have you ever looked up at the sky to see a view like this? When masses of Starlings (genus Sturnidae) fly in sync, this phenomenon is known as a murmuration. Wonder why these birds do this? Flying in a group of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, provides protection against predators: The mass can be daunting for a falcon who’s trying to snatch a single target from the quick-moving crowd. To stay in a tight formation, each starling is in tune with the motions of seven of its surrounding neighbors. Doing so allows each bird to respond to the fluid movements of the overall cohort, as there’s no single bird leading the flock.

Photo: Damien Walmsley, CC BY-NC 2.0, flickr

The Art of Flying, Jan van IJken, 2014-15

Documentary short on a murmuration of starlings.

Starlings making the shape of a bird (source: Colin Hogg)

“After months of chasing these birds around Lough Ennell, Co. Westmeath. James Crombie and I captured a unique display. His shot made front cover of the Irish Times and this is the video of the murmuration behind that iconic photograph.”

Soren Solkær. Starling murmurations. Rome, Italy, 2020

Søren Solkær Art

Danish photographer Søren Solkær: Murmurations

Black Sun #128 Houtwiel, Friesland, The Netherlands (top)

Black Sun #145, Rome, Italy (bottom)

Starling murmurations by photographer Søren Solkær.

My OC:

Girl is made out of flock of birds

Girl tries to figgier out why her parents didn’t just adopt a child, rather than do what ever the heck they did to make her

Girl also tries to figure out the science off her literally splitting into a flock of birds and being a literal hive mind of birds like what the fuck what kind of magic bullshittery is this

Murmurations are large groups of starlings that fly in mesmerizing patterns in the sky. It is thought that these formations offer protection from predators, as it is difficult for a predator to single out one bird from the large group. It is not fully understood how the individual starlings are able to navigate without colliding with each other.

(Photo by: @jgrimtravels )

Starling murmuration over Thetford Norfolk.

Bird Creatures by Claire Droppert (starlings murmuration)

Soren Solkær. Starling murmurations. Rome, Italy, 2021

My assumption is that if you were a bird it would be some kind of raptor

INCORRECT

while flattering (and plausible - do have a bit better than 20/20 vision, do love big skies, do see a thrill-seeker vibe w/the diving) I have dwelt on this over dinner and I think I would likely be a smaller bird. a lovely chestnut-backed chickadee, or perhaps an busy redpoll. winter mob feeding looks like a ball, and i am more the type to dart between trees and hang sideways on things and talk lots than to soar above it all.

i could also see corvids. i would absolutely rule out herons and shorebirds: too tall, too patient, too wet-feet. also, i am allergic to fish. i would be terrible at it.

my aspirational answer: a swallow. a violet-green swallow specifically. i have never watched them not having a wonderful time. social birds, acrobats, out during the best times of the day. heralders of spring and princes of long summer evenings. migratory. playful. 10/10 personhood transmuted to bird traits goals.

(tell me your headcanons on anon!)

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