I have also seen it in Idaho. Although nowhere near this ornate in their aerial acrobatics even larger flocks are know in the US. When I was in college I was shown a winter roost near Boise that contained an estimated 250,000 birds. Yes a that is a quarter of a million the flock was stretched out over 4 miles when it took flight. I have also seen flocks of 2000 plus in the Sandpoint, ID area back in the 1980?s. The stand of trees where they showed up every spring was subdivided many years ago and I have not even heard of the large flocks there in at least 15 years. I also had a chance to see this in Denmark last May.

Search bird swarm on you tube and you will find several clips of this behavior in both the US and Europe.

European Starlings may be incredibly destructive from the perspective of native birds in the US, but they still have some pretty amazing behavior. It is unfortunate that this spectacle is becoming difficult to see in their native.

Mike
Colville

From: Bill Anderson
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 9:10 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: Murmuration flocking behavior alternativeexplanation

Henne wrote ---> yes, have seen it in several places, most notably at the Friday Harbor ferry dock?very consistent most spring and summer late afternoons toward evening. <---

Ditto for the Edmonds ferry dock prior to the starlings roosting for the night on the telephone lines on Railroad Ave. south of the ferry dock.
Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. USA





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