Starling murmurations: Thousands of wingbeats in breathtaking synchronised flight
Ennell, Westmeath Co Murmuration Crombie Picture: Over A Starling Inpho/james Lough
Experiencing a murmuration of starlings overhead on a winter evening is a wondrous thing. Looking upwards as the last of the day’s sunshine retreats westward and the open sky grades from pink to navy blue, this is when their social gatherings begin. As dusk deepens, flocks of starlings join from every direction, building momentum as their number swells until thousands of wingbeats join in an enormous, breathtaking synchronised flight. This aerial phenomenon is one of the most awe-inspiring of natural wonders to occur in this part of the world, and planning a trip to witness the shapeshifting mass of movement is always worthy of the effort.
Starling murmurations occur across Ireland right through the winter months, and it is during December and January when the number of birds involved in the murmurations tends to peak. When severe cold weather occurs in Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe, life becomes especially challenging for small passerines such as starlings, so many migrate here to avail of our milder winters. The coming together of these migrant starlings from the east with flocks of resident birds, who remain here all year round, is what makes a, murmuration so truly momentous. A murmuration can be as large as tens of thousands of starlings, some swell to 100,000 or murmurations in Britain have been reported that contain a million birds. Even the sound alone is worth witnessing, with so many synchronised wingbeats swooshing low overhead, a powerful display of wild sound.
Fortunately for anyone wishing to witness this, murmurations occur in known locations right through the winter months. Finding out where there is a regularly occurring murmuration and taking the time to go there before dusk is especially worth doing at this time of year when opportunities for outdoor experiences in nature can be a little limited. First, there is the suspense of watching a few small flocks gathering, building in momentum until the cacophony of blankets of birds speeding in waves overhead makes the heart almost miss a few beats. The mass swerves and rises, before pulsing in an instantaneous change of direction, then descending at speed across the evening sky, appearing both spontaneous and perfectly choreographed.
The are a number of reasons why starlings gather together like this. For a start, there is safety in numbers. Aerial predators such as peregrine falcons and sparrowhawks don’t stand much of a chance of snatching a single starling from such a confusing mass of speeding birds. The swooping flight is also a way of convening all together before settling down together for the night. For once the starlings have finished the murmuration, they all descend together over a reedbed or a woodland to roost together for the night, the closeness of so many helping to conserve heat and thus energy on such cool winter nights. One study reported that a starling can save 38% of its energy by roosting together in cold winter weather.
I love that the incredible spectacle of a murmuration is created by a small bird we tend to regard as otherwise unremarkable. Starlings are a bird of farmland habitats, though are not especially shy of humans. They chatter and chirp from the gutters around the house and babble their gurgling song with their impressive range of sounds from the back wall or the hedge. They wake us up in the mornings. They nest in buildings in both urban and rural settings. Their most celebrated characteristic, apart from winter murmurations, is their impressive singing ability and extraordinary capacity for impersonation — for starlings are expert mimics.
When seen close up, starling’s speckled plumage shows streaks of shimmering purple and green across their shoulders, colour that is intended to impress their peers and potential mates. A sturdy bill is used to jab in the ground for insect grubs and beetles, though starlings are also able to hunt aerially, plucking flying insects directly from the air. In autumn, they are able to adapt to the change in seasonal offerings and eat wild fruits from hedges and woodland trees, including haws and rowan berries.
It is startling then to discover that Ireland's population of starlings is decreasing. The Countryside Bird Survey, run by BirdWatch Ireland, has been monitoring the status of common and widespread breeding birds since 1990, and has shown how starling numbers in Ireland have been declining in recent decades, similar to trends across North and West Europe.
Experts believe that the decline is a consequence of agricultural intensification and related reduced availability of insects, which starlings depend on for protein during nesting season. Across Ireland, we have dramatically intensified the use of many grasslands. Species-rich semi-natural pastures have been converted into monocultures of ryegrass, reseeded, and fertilised fields that lack the diversity of wild flowering plants that sustain healthy populations of invertebrates. Increasing use of fertilisers and pesticides also reduces the diversity and abundance of insect life, both in soils and in the air above, and so these crucial food sources for starlings decline. As a result, starlings are now amber listed as one of the ‘Birds of Conservation Concern’ in Ireland.
Celebrating the spectacle of a murmuration is still not hard to do. Known murmurations occur in Timoleague in county Cork, near Gallbally in County Limerick, near Borrisokane in county Tipperary, and famously, over Lough Ree between counties Roscommon and Westmeath.
Birdwatch Ireland is now seeking your observations of murmurations as part of the Irish Starling Murmuration Survey. First launched in the winter of 2020/ 2021, this citizen science project invited members of the public to keep an eye on the sky this winter and to report any sightings of starling murmurations to the BirdWatch Ireland website. Helping this conservation organisation to identify the locations and habitats that starlings rely on at this time of year will provide information needed to improve protection for starlings in winters to come.