The secret to Starlings' air shows
THE mystery behind the spectacular formations of flocks of starlings has been unravelled by scientists.
After studying a swirling winter flock of hundreds of starlings, they said yesterday that the birds play follow-my-leader. Information about any change in direction takes half a second to ripple through the group.
The birds pay close attention to avoid colliding with their neighbours or finding themselves on the edge of the flock – and vulnerable to predators.
This is how the birds, which can form flocks a million-strong, can create constantly changing shapes in the sky.
The team studied a flock of 400 starlings in Rome using three cameras to provide a 2-D image of each bird in the flock
The team studied a flock of 400 starlings in Rome using three cameras to provide a 2-D image of each bird in the flock.
From this they were able to work out its rank and its turning time – and plot how the information surged through the flock.
Writing in Nature Physics, the team from universities in Italy, America and Argentina said: “A few ‘top birds’ change direction first and they are positioned near to each other.
“The directional information sub- sequently reaches all the members within roughly half a second.”
Starlings are on Britain’s red list of birds of conservation concern following a population decline of at least 50 per cent over 25 years.
Paul Stancliffe, of the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “The starlings are basically avoiding predators.
“They have safety in numbers so wherever the bird in front goes, the one behind will follow very closely.”