Swarm of birds put on dazzling show in sky
A flock of birds put on a dazzling show in Renton, Wash., recently.
David Johnstone told KING-TV that he had come up to IKEA from Olympia on Saturday evening and noticed the commotion as he was leaving the store and walking to the car.
He shot some video of the swarm of birds creating an amazing scene in the sky. At the same time, crows headed for their roost were arriving for the night.
"I drove over to where they were flying to and there were thousands of crows everywhere … in every tree and on every building in sight," said Johnstone.
"I followed them to a wooded area nearby where they all went," he said. "I couldn't see them at that point, but the sounds of birds were so loud it sounded like a crowd of people cheering at a stadium from a distance or like a large river flowing."
University of Washington crow researcher Kaeli Swift said while crows often get together in the thousands during the evening, these flocks do not exhibit the type of highly organized cohesion known as "collective motion."
"This is a common behavior, however, in starlings, shorebirds, and blackbirds," she said. "In starlings, we call these flocks "murmurations," said Swift. "We're not sure why they do it since, as is often the case in the evening, it seems to occur spontaneously. It can also occur in response to predators, where it may come in handy as an evasive technique."
Swift said this was likely the simultaneous gathering of starlings, along with the crows for the Renton roost, which is right near IKEA.
And she noted that crows and starlings can roost together.
"(Johnstone) was lucky to witness two spectacular animal phenomena!" Swift said.