Living with Birds "Sky Dance" by David Tipling Tweetapedia

The first starlings don’t arrive as a spectacle. They arrive in loose groups, skimming low over the winter landscape. As daylight drains from the landscape, arriving flocks group together in the sky, converging upon one another to create an ever-growing amoeboid-like flock. When a winged predator appears – perhaps a buzzard, sparrowhawk or peregrine – this energises the gathering into a shape-shifting murmuration.

A murmuration occurs when starlings assemble at communal roosting sites in autumn and winter. In northern Europe, this behaviour is amplified by immigration. Birds from Scandinavia, the Baltic, and Russia move westwards as temperatures drop, flooding into Britain, the Low Countries, and western France. Thus the British winter sky becomes both local arena and continental crossing point.

The aerial display that precedes roosting is not random motion but the visible consequence of synchronised decision-making. Each bird aligns itself with a limited number of neighbours, generally between six and seven. They match speed and direction while maintaining spacing. There is no leader. Direction emerges from the interactions within the group. This is known as self-organised behaviour.

Traditional roost sites include reed beds and conifer plantations but urbanisation has created novel roosting sites. At Aberystwyth and Brighton starlings roost on the towns’ piers, attracting crowds of people to watch the spectacle. Some city centres also host murmurations. In some winters Rome has hosted well over 1 million starlings murmurating over the city at dusk and causing consternation to some as droppings have plastered parked cars along the tree-lined avenues in which they choose to roost.

Despite decades of study murmurations retain their mystery. Eventually the flock circles ever more tightly until like tea being poured from a pot they pour into their roost. A loud chattering ensues for a few minutes before the roost goes quiet. The sky has emptied, the watchers drift away, and darkness envelopes the landscape. At dawn the birds will slip away from the roost in small flocks, heading out for a day’s foraging before repeating the whole process again.

Where to see

Starling roosts in late autumn and early winter often move around before settling at a specific location for a few weeks. December and January are the best months for the highest numbers; many roosts have largely dispersed by early March. If you wish to witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles, some of the most dependable locations are the Somerset Levels, Bodmin Moor, Aberystwyth Pier, Gretna, Minsmere RSPB Reserve in Suffolk and Brighton Pier in Sussex. There are numerous other locations around the country, and a good resource is the starling roost map here.