We are all familiar with some of the collective nouns for birds – flocks, flights, broods, maybe companies (parrots) and so on. There are plenty of lesser known terms for specific birds, of which quite a few seem rather remarkable: a wisdom of owls, a murder of crows, a lamentation of swans, an unkindness of ravens, an exaltation of larks. Most of these refer to perceived characteristics of a particular species (the swan pining for a lost mate – they pair for life). Some date from medieval times.
MURMURATIONS OF STARLINGS
In the UK in late autumn, starlings start to gather in huge flocks in trees and open fields. Twitchers begin to gather too, in their all-weather plumage, ready to watch the sensational avian displays of thousands and thousands of starlings as they take to the air almost simultaneously. They swirl in densely packed random formation, drawing complex patterns across the sky. The group will constantly change direction and height, sometimes splitting into subgroups and reforming. They may suddenly drop to the ground in a teeming raucous mass, before taking off again to continue the display.
It is sometimes possible to sense when the flight is about to begin, In a huge packed group on the ground, there is a hint of restlessness. There is movement. A few birds seem to jump slightly. Then in a flash they are away into the sky.
A brief encounter with a small murmuration last week
Starlings Sturnus vulgaris are a European species. They are now common in North America, less so in the Bahamas. The non-European distribution happened this way: All the European Starlings in North America are descended from 100 birds set loose in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned.* In return, gray squirrels were introduced into Europe at about the same time, with the population increasing exponentially and displacing the indigenous red squirrel..
* All About Birds – Cornell Lab
Photos: Keith Salvesen, Bruce Hallett, Wiki Commons; Video Clip Keith Salvesen; Cartoon by the very excellent Birdorable
I can only get away with crap photos like this because it’s my blog & your decision to put up with it
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
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