Subject: starling flocks
Date: Jun 5 09:46:01 1998
From: Donna Koerker - djkoerk at u.washington.edu


For the second day in a row large (many thousands of individuals) flocks
of starlings have been hanging out in our neighborhood. The neighbor's
roofs and driveways are covered as are most of the trees. A few minutes
ago the light from our skylight was literally gone from the huge number of
birds sitting shoulder to shoulder. The puddles from last nights rain
seem to be of special interest. Smaller flocks (several hundred) come
and go and these groups merge and diverge to form awesome collections. It
could be real scary for some people.

I presume these birds will disperse or move on but I don't know what their
typical behavior is. Many (most) of the birds seem to be this years
younguns. Any clues?

Donna J. Koerker
e-mail: djkoerk at u.washington.edu
on the cliffs north of the Des Moines Marina