A flock of starlings thrills downtown observers

I had the opportunity to be on the roof of a downtown building Thursday afternoon. Watching the dark clouds from the snow squall move in from the northwest was very cool, but a truly magical moment was looking east and seeing a large flock of starlings perform.

For at least 10 minutes, as the snow and wind whipped around us, a friend and I watched as the birds flew rapidly in those strange, geometric shapes that expand and contract and bob and weave through the sky. The birds appeared to be above the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice. Has anyone seen this awesome natural show? Does it take place on a regular basis? I'd love to hear reports from other downtown workers/residents. This was the coolest natural phenomenon I've seen downtown since I witnessed two hawks fighting a few years ago.

I often see flocks of Starlings like that while while duck hunting in Saginaw bay. They're migrating South and normally come through the same time every year, but it's dependent on the weather. I've seen massive flocks that constantly went past for up to 45 minutes. Not sure how many birds are in a flock that size, but it has to be well into the millions.

Safe For Work video-clip of phenomenon you saw:

http://vimeo.com/31158841

What's even cooler is when you see a falcon shoot through the swarm and make a kill in the blink of an eye.

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Originally Posted by Ravine

Safe For Work video-clip of phenomenon you saw:

http://vimeo.com/31158841

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Wow, that's amazing video. Carey, is that like what you saw in the city?

A birder friend with a life list in the 600's told me a lot about starlings. They are not native but were brought here by an Englishman nostalgic for their song - figures eh. They flourished here to point of becoming a pest overwhelming the habitat of other birds in some cases and are not held in much esteem by the birder community.

He used to capture and band birds from the tower of Old Main at WSU which was in the center of the starling movements. Detroit is a main bird migration route due to many species using the Great Lakes shore lines to guide their paths. Point Pelee is possibly the greatest bird viewing location in North America because birds following the shoreline end up there in cul de sac fashion and confused. On a what he described as thin day we spotted over 140 species at Pelee one spring day. I would probably only spotted 50 at most without him.

I have Chick-a-dees thump my window like a school of sharks, for a glob of peanut butter the size of a golf ball. It used to last 3 - 4 days, now lasts 3 - 4 hours. Arguments across all species. Nothing new. :o Okay, bad birds, Blue Jay's, Cardinals, Ravens, - good birds - sparrows, ????

I watch the Chick-a-dees every day, when there is room for only one, arguments ensue.

We call chickadees "cheeseburger birds" because their call sounds like

"cheese-burger-burger-burger-burger"

In response to Old Guy's question of whether the Starling maneuvers on the video are like what we saw above downtown:
Answer: Yes!
The Starling show we saw had many fewer birds, but the undulating movements -- are they called "murmurations"? -- were very similar. Again, it was a one-of-a-kind downtown experience, and I've worked downtown for nearly 40 years.

Hamtragedy: "We call chickadees "cheeseburger birds" because their call sounds like

"cheese-burger-burger-burger-burger"

Thanks for that Hamtragedy...I often hear that outside my bedroom window in the morning and always wondered which specie of bird was responsible.

As an aside, whenever I hear that "chesse-burger chesse-burger chesse-burger" I can't help but think of the John Belushi skit on SNL...:)

Paul

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Originally Posted by Hamtragedy

We call chickadees "cheeseburger birds" because their call sounds like

"cheese-burger-burger-burger-burger"

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[[400 Cheeseburgers), that look like golf balls with a head and tails around my house - They have gone through three jars of peanut butter in the past month. I am vying with them for the last morsel of food.

I'm a lot bigger. Until we see we see "The Birds" Some time this fall.

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Originally Posted by Carey

The Starling show we saw had many fewer birds, but the undulating movements -- are they called "murmurations"? -- were very similar.

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The flock is called a murmuration, not the movement: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm

Where was that video taken? That was actually a bit scary. The music was perfect for it.

I read somewhere that they were brought over to Central Park in New York to eat caterpillars that were falling on people from the trees. I'm not sure anybody could be nostalgic for their song, it's actually more like a shriek. When I hear it, I have the urge to reach for a gun.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

A birder friend with a life list in the 600's told me a lot about starlings. They are not native but were brought here by an Englishman nostalgic for their song - figures eh. They flourished here to point of becoming a pest overwhelming the habitat of other birds in some cases and are not held in much esteem by the birder community.

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Sort of reminds me of another bird species that was not held in high regard by "any" community... the famous Passenger Pigeon... in the 19th century they used to swarm in such vast numbers [[some estimates are over a billion) that they would literally blacken out the sky... that is until they were hunted to extinction.... when the last known bird died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. :mad: