Get lost in the crowd: why do birds need a murmuration?

The murmuration is a unique natural phenomenon where thousands of birds gather in huge flocks and behave as a single organism. Shrinking and dispersal, simultaneously changing direction sharply soaring up or falling down, they form in the sky fanciful, ever-changing shapes.

For a long time scientists struggled with unraveling the causes of this behavior. In 2014, scientists from the University of Warwick have proven that the phenomenon of murmuration allows the flock of starlings to support such density that each bird received the maximum amount of information about their environment. According to them, it is necessary the condition of the limit of transparency. That is, each Starling has to see the light at different angles. The resulting structure of dark and light spots gives the birds all the necessary information.

In addition, a hypothesis was advanced that this interaction of birds in a flock allows them to protect themselves from predators. And in 2017, the researchers of the School of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol have confirmed this hypothesis. Scientists have developed a virtual model that simulates the flight of starlings and behavior of the virtual pursuers. During the research it was proved that a huge flock moving synchronously and continuously changing the orientation of the flight leads the predators in confusion. And thereby saves the life of each individual bird.

Perhaps in the future scientists will discover more than one mystery of the phenomenon of murmuration. But for now let's just admire the mesmerizing flight of a bird flock.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»