The Greatest Bird Show on Earth

"What is remarkable about the starlings' behaviour is that, despite all appearances, there is no choreographer and, as far as we know, no leader. Each individual bird is just following local rules. The numbers of individual birds in these flocks can run into thousands, yet they almost literally never collide. That is just as well for, given the speed at which they fly, any such impact would severely injure them. Often the whole flock seems to behave as a single individual, wheeling and turning as one. It can look as though the separate flocks are moving through each other in opposite directions, maintaining their coherence intact as separate flocks. This makes it seem almost miraculous, but actually the flocks are at different distances from the camera and do not literally move through each other. It adds to the aesthetic pleasure that the edges of the flocks are so sharply defined. They don't peter off gradually, but come to an abrupt boundary. The density of the birds just inside the boundary is no less than in the middle of the flock, while it is zero outside the boundary."
Richard Dawkins, "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Original video by: Dylan Winter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE&feature=fvw
Music: Jónsi and Alex
Album: Riceboy Sleeps
Track: Happiness

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• starlings'
• starling
• birds
• greatest show on earth