I got this from a friend, Well worth looking at.

Kind of looks at the Starlings in a different light!

Will & Willie Markey
East of Auburn on Soos Creek

No one knows why they do it. Yet each fall, thousands of starlings dance
in the twilight above England and Scotland. The birds gather in
shape-shifting
flocks called murmurations, having migrated in the millions from Russia and
Scandinavia to escape winter's frigid bite. Scientists aren't sure how they
do
it, either.


The starlings' murmurations are manifestations of swarm intelligence,
which in different contexts is practiced by schools of fish, swarms of bees
and
colonies of ants. As far as I am aware, even complex algorithmic models
haven't yet explained the starlings aerobatics, which rely on the tiny
birds'
quicksilver reaction time of under 100 milliseconds to avoid aerial
collisions and
predators in the giant flock.

Despite their tour de force in the dusky sky, starlings have declined
significantly in the UK in recent years, perhaps because of a decline in
suitable nesting sites. The birds still roost in several of Britain's
rural pastures, however, settling down to sleep (and chatter) after their
evening
ballet.

Two young ladies were out for a late afternoon canoe ride and fortunately
one of them remembered to bring her video camera. What they saw was a
wonderful
murmuration display, caught in the short video - URL is below. Watch the
variation of colour and intensity of the patterns that the birds make in
proximity to one other. Enjoy.


http://vimeo.com/31158841
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