Lotta Birds

[Chip]

Recently saw the most massive flock of birds I've ever seen. It was near dusk on Mattaponi Creek, a trib of the Patuxent River, and a band of birds started moving across the sky, north to south. It looked like a ribbon, undulating in the sky as it moved along. At first I thought it was a murmuration, but it just kept on coming. I sat in my canoe watching for a good 5 minutes, thinking I should take a photo, but by the time I get the camera out, it'll be over. Wrong. First photo was time stamped 4:53. The band of birds got larger and larger, eventually covering the whole sky and extending to the horizon, as in the second photo, taken at 4:58. I'd say, in total, it took this flock 12-15 minutes to fly over. Can't imagine how many birds there were.

I'm not a birder, so can't say if this is unusual, but I certainly never saw anything like it. A question: how does such a large flock survive? I'm guessing they have to break up to feed, because a flock with thousands upon thousands of birds would consume all the food in any area where they land.

 

[lowangle al]

I haven't seen a flock like that since the 60's when I was a kid. We thought they were starlings.

 

[red langford]

Impending apocalypse? I hope not. Would have been cool to experience a flock like that.

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

Great photos. Looks like something from an Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds".

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Yes, pretty sure they are starlings. They do not stay together as a flock during the day but come from a wide area to roost at night. The poop can have quite an impact on water quality. It is quite a regular sight at dusk in winter at specific locations. The really like reed beds over water as it is much harder for predators like foxes to access.

 

[Alan Gage]

I've never seen large groups of Starlings behaving like that but have seen videos of them doing it in Europe. Is it common in North America as well? Around here (upper midwest) it's migrating Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds that form those huge black clouds...but I've never seen one as extensive as you describe. What's your location?

Alan

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Starlings came over with the European settlers, along with a lot of other invasive species, I have seen them along lake Winnipeg but yes you are right it could be red wing blackbirds or grackles. Note the lack of capitals! Sorry pedantic I know.

 

[Alan Gage]

I know starlings are here, just never seen those big undulating flocks of them. All the videos I see are from Europe.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

Starlings, like most invasives, have done quite well for themselves here. The invasive common house sparrow muscles out other indigenous species right in my backyard. My nest box with it's entry hole barely large enough for its intended occupants, the house wren, and not large enough for ruffian competitors, the house sparrow, still sees stand-offs. This past spring we were delighted when we heard a male wren singing for a mate. About a week later the two were coming and going busy with their work, building a home in the nestbox. Aaaand a few days later a female sparrow was trying unsuccessfully to squeeze herself in too, with the male standing guard fending off the diminutive wren pair. The sparrow would pluck out nesting material, and then try ever so hard to get through the hole. Several times a day they would go off foraging, and the wrens would quickly show up again and get back to the business of nest building. This went on for a couple weeks before the wrens gave up and left. The nest box hung empty for the season; we'll see what happens next spring.
And not all birds flock of course. To each their own. I've never seen the huge numbers of starlings seen in the OP, but they're around. I drove past a sports field yesterday. There was a flock of Canada geese feeding and going about their business. And they leave a lot of that. We can all choose which species we "like" or "dislike". They'll all get on with their most basic of instincts, survival, and doing so fill whatever niche is available for them in the ecosystem. As for myself, there are several "disliked" ones I'd love to see eradicated or extirpated province-wide. Asian carp, zebra mussels, house sparrows, European starlings...and while I'm at it, ticks, mosquitoes, dog walkers who don't stoop n' scoop...but what would fill this void in the natural world after I'd played God? I dunno. How about unicorns? lol

 

[Alan Gage]

I've always thought starlings or house sparrows should be our national bird. Came over by boat from Europe and quickly adapted to nearly every corner of the continent while muscling out the native population. Makes much more sense than the bald eagle.

Alan

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Since Mattaponi Creek is not a tributary of the Patuxent (to be more than pedantic), I suspect the photos in the OP are actually a swarm of locusts over the reedy Nile delta, perhaps from the time of Moses.

I've never seen a flock of birds or locusts that big, but I have twice seen giant swarms of monarch butterflies in California. One swarm landed on the west shore of Lake Tahoe and the butterflies literally coated an entire town -- millions of them all over every tree, building, sidewalk and parked car, and smashed against the windshields of moving ones.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Take a look for videos of fish fly swarms from Lake Winnipeg.

 

[Odyssey]

I'm not sure if I've seen flocks that big before, starlings and blackbirds gather here too for their migration south. I tend to observe individuals rather than groups. Where we used to live, I would often go for walks and bicycle rides bird watching as I went. Ticked a lot of birds off my list, and enjoyed peeking into their avian world for a brief time. I was just kidding earlier in my pretend rant. (Well, except for the dog walker bit. lol.) Some birds certainly can be annoying, but maybe they're just misunderstood. Even the gaggle of Canada geese I saw the other day grouped on a sports field bothered me, but they are just bellying up to the all you can eat grass buffet, that's all. They are irksome yes, bothersome yes, but mostly just opportunists.
I remember when we lived in another city long ago, there were huge flocks of crows that would gather to roost in huge numbers every evening in the forest that bisects the city. People complained to their city councillors to do something about the noise, who passed the complaint on to wildlife officers, who said they'd look into it...ha. I remember I walked up to that wildlife corridor one evening to see and hear what all the silly fuss was about. Wow. The complainers had a point. The raucous caws were almost deafening. It felt almost apocalyptic to experience that massive murder of crows swarming. I can't imagine how creepy it would be to have them filling the forest at the edge of my backyard, tens of thousands of little black beady eyes scoping out my back kitchen window. Okay, maybe I can imagine it a bit too much. I'm reading a book about crows at the moment, but the author finds the flocks and their behaviour fascinating and beautiful, not annoying and intimidating. Perhaps this book Crow Country will give me a necessary human attitude adjustment. ha

And then there's this:
Seeing just a single crow is considered an omen of bad luck. Finding two crows, however, means good luck. (Three crows mean health, and four crows mean wealth.) Yet spotting five crows means sickness is coming, and witnessing six crows means death is nearby.

 

[Chip]

I misidentified the creek where I saw those birds--it was Spice Creek (in Maryland), about 6 miles further south. A couple friends were at a camp site nearby, not right under the flock but close enough to take note. Greg, who sometimes posts here, opined that it was a mixed flock of starlings, black birds, and maybe he named some others. Greg doesn't usually say anything unless he knows.

I also learned that black birds hide the little bit of red on their wings when they infiltrate other species' flocks. I never knew they could do that.

One winter a flock of crows took up residence in trees behind the building where I worked. Every day at dusk they'd fly in by the hundreds--every tree had crows on every branch. The noise is not what I think would be bothersome--it's the droppings. I read about a town in Oklahoma to which crows flock every year--estimates as high as two million. Can you imagine the mess? And apparently, the flocks sometimes return to the same spots every winter. I guess they didn't like the spot behind the building, because the crows only roosted there one year, and didn't come back.

 

[DanOver]

Saw six crows over my friend's corn field and killed 5, so I guess that death was nearby.....

 

[Guest]

Long, undulating band of blackbird/starling/grackle flocks in flight are fairly common here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in fall/winter. Miles of 'em. Sometimes horizon to horizon.

How do those flocks drink needed water while on the move? I think I saw the answer a month of two ago. They form a vortex over the water with the birds at the bottom dipping into the water, circling around, dipping again, until satiated, and then rejoining the flock line going on its merry way. This is my theory, anyway, as to why they were doing what they were doing.

I was preoccupied with children and only thought to video it as it was winding down. My zoom out was limited and so could not show the larger context of the flock.

I uploaded the video to to google pictures. I have not figured out how to copy the link but maybe this will work:

I am not on facebook and my tech skills are quickly getting woefully outdated.

 

[Mihun09]

Starling flocks undulating and spinning in the air is normal out here in the early Fall. Being mostly agricultural they have plenty to feast upon and we had a close encounter with just such a mesmerizing flock on the drive home from a September trip. As we approached they were winging across the highway from field to field. We were doing 100kph when about to pass and the entire flock decided to cross the road again. They hit the canoe, the windshield, the grille, it was starling carnage. Thankfully no SUV damage but in the rear view there were a half dozen bodies on the ground.

 

[Erica]

In south Florida in the 1800s the flocks of water birds were "counted" by how many acres they covered. (I was involved in an oral history project of the area.)
Erica

 

[Boatman53]

Those are called a 'murmeration of Starlings'. Nothing new to add, we see them on occasion here on Long Island.
carry on.
Jim

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Lotta birds: With the arrival of some serious winter weather I have observed flocks of sandhill cranes and Canada geese heading straight south over central Indiana. Hundreds of them traveling together in V formations, cursing the cold and the snow the whole way. They actually like Florida.