Starling murmurations During the winter months, large numbers of starlings visit Britain from the continent, seeking out the relative warmth of our island climate. See more. “It sounds like a compendium of murmur and admiration,” he’d once written. They twist and turn and change direction at … Our expert murmuration guide explains what a murmuration is, the science behind them and the best places to see a starling murmuration in in the UK. The European Starling was originally introduced here by a group of well-meaning Shakespeare enthusiasts in 1880, but many Americans now consider them to be pests that serve little purpose other than to dirty car windshields and destroy crops. IF PARKING IS DIFFICULT, PLEASE PARK IN A RESPECTABLE MANNER AND DO NOT BLOCK ACCESS TO THE RESIDENTS PROPERTIES ETC OR RETURN ANOTHER TIME, But, what is a starling murmuration? Starling murmurations are one of nature's great spectacles – and autumn is the time to witness the stunning aerial display in the skies above the UK. Murmuration is the word given to these grand assemblies of starlings, descended from the Latin murmur, meaning to surge, though a friend of mind offered a lexical variation. Just to be precise, “murmuration” is the term for a flock of starlings, not the mesmerizingly fluid behavior of a murmuration of starlings while in flight. As they fly, the starlings in a murmuration seem to be connected together. A murmuration of starlings is a remarkable wildlife spectacle to witness. It looks like the word is evolving to include that meaning, but since many different species exhibit coherent schooling behavior, it may be unnecessarily species-specific. Here, everything you need to know about starling murmurations. Murmuration definition, an act or instance of murmuring. Starling Murmurations Roost Map IF YOU ARE GOING TO VISIT LOCATIONS TO WATCH STARLINGS, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT SOME PLACES GET EXTREMELY BUSY. Why do they happen? The murmuration captured in these photos took place in Scotland, but you can find starlings in the U.S. as well. During the winter months, starlings are known for aggregating into huge flocks of hundreds to thousands of individuals, murmurations, which when they take flight altogether, render large displays of intriguing swirling patterns in the skies above observers. There are parallels with the shoaling behavior of fish, the swarming behavior of insects, and herd behavior of land animals. As dusk arrives, the starlings set off for their communal roost in one of the most staggering natural spectacles of all. In nature. 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