When starlings flock together, wheeling and darting through the sky in tight, fluid formations, we call it a murmuration. These murmurations can range from small groups of a few hundred starlings in a small ball to undulating seas of millions of birds that might block out the sun. I thought today would be a good day to take a few moments and appreciate the simple beauty of murmurations, captured by a number of photographers over the past few years.
The Murmurations of Starlings
- Alan Taylor
- January 2, 2019
- 25 Photos
- In Focus
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Starlings perform their traditional dance before landing to sleep near the southern Israeli city of Rahat, in the Negev desert, on January 22, 2018. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
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A murmuration of migrating starlings flies above a waste facility near the city of Rahat, Israel, on December 30, 2018. #
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters -
A flock of starlings flies near the first tee during the Golfplan Insurance PGA Pro-Captain Challenge at the Lumine Golf Club, near Tarragona, Spain. #
Tony Marshall / Getty -
Black kites fly as a murmuration of starlings tumbles in the distance near Rahat, Israel, on February 10, 2016. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
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Starlings land to sleep on a transmission tower near the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva on December 22, 2018. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
A black kite flies under a murmuration of migrating starlings at a landfill near the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel, on December 26, 2016. #
Baz Ratner / Reuters -
A murmuration of migrating starlings is seen across the sky near the village of Beit Kama, Israel, on January 16, 2018. #
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters -
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Starlings swarm before landing to sleep near the southern Israeli city of Rahat on January 22, 2018. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
A murmuration of starlings, photographed near the southern Israeli city of Rahat on February 4, 2018 #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
Starlings are photographed at their nesting box in a private garden in the town of Bobruisk, Belarus, on April 8, 2018. #
Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters -
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Migrating starlings fly in a group above a waste facility near the city of Rahat on December 31, 2018. #
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters -
A tightly packed murmuration of starlings is seen in the sky near Be'er Sheva, Israel, on December 28, 2015. #
Amir Cohen / Reuters -
A picture taken on January 22, 2018, shows starlings flocking together near Rahat. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
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Starlings fly behind a statue in central Rome at sunset on November 16, 2018. #
Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty -
A flock of starlings fills the sky over Rome, Italy, on January 29, 2018. #
Tony Gentile / Reuters -
A flock of starlings flies at sunset near Rahat, Israel, on February 2, 2015. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
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Starlings put on a display near the M6 as they gather in murmurations on November 21, 2018, in Gretna, Scotland. #
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty -
A murmuration of starlings is seen across the sky near the Israeli village of Beit Kama on January 16, 2018. #
Amir Cohen / Reuters -
A sunset murmuration of starlings, as thousands of birds head to roost in Somerset Levels marshes, in England's Somerset county #
Tim Graham / Getty -
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Migrating starlings fly in a group above a waste facility near the city of Rahat on January 1, 2019. #
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters -
Migrating starlings rest on a fence near the village of Beit Kama in southern Israel on January 16, 2018. #
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters -
A large flock of starlings flies near Sarospatak, Hungary, on October 18, 2018. #
Zsolt Czegledi / MTI via AP -
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Starlings wheel and fly before landing to sleep near the southern Israeli city of Rahat on January 4, 2016. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
Starlings fly near Be'er Sheva, Israel, on December 28, 2015. #
Amir Cohen / Reuters -
A murmuration of migrating starlings is seen across the sky in southern Israel on December 31, 2015. #
Amir Cohen / Reuters -
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