VIDEO SHOWS: STARLINGS FORM PATTERNS IN THE SKY OF SOUTHERN ISRAEL, PEOPLE OBSERVING MURMURATIONS AT DUSK RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: SOUTHERN ISRAEL (RECENT - JANUARY 2020) (REUTERS -
In a dazzling dance, starlings sweep southern Israel sky
Credit: Reuters - Viral Video
Duration: 02:35s
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VIDEO SHOWS: STARLINGS FORM PATTERNS IN THE SKY OF SOUTHERN ISRAEL, PEOPLE OBSERVING MURMURATIONS AT DUSK RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: SOUTHERN ISRAEL (RECENT - JANUARY 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.
PEOPLE WATCHING AS THOUSANDS OF MIGRATING STARLINGS FLY IN FORMATIONS ACROSS THE SKY IN WHAT IS KNOWN AS MURMURATIONS 2.
MURMURATIONS OF STARLINGS SWOOPING IN THE SKY ABOVE A FIELD 3.
CLOSE VIEW OF STARLINGS SWOOPING IN THE SKY 4.
STARLINGS FORM PATTERNS IN THE SKY 5.
BOY RUNNING IN THE FIELD WITH MURMURATIONS IN THE BACKGROUND 6.
STARLING FLYING OVER A DONKEY, CHILDREN RUNNING IN THE FIELD 7.
STARLINGS FORM PATTERNS IN THE SKY 8.
FAMILY LOOKING ON 9.
VARIOUS OF MURMURATIONS, STARLINGS DESCENDING 10.
VARIOUS OF STARLING MURMURATIONS 11.
DONKEY AND BIRD 12.
BOY WATCHING STARLING MURMURATIONS 13.
VARIOUS OF STARLING MURMURATIONS AS SUN SETS STORY: Swooping, pivoting and soaring in concert, starlings from Russia and east Europe winter in the Holy Land.
They create "murmurations" - dark, shifting shapes that look like dancing clouds.
As the sun sets, the starlings begin their dazzling display, twisting and turning at high speed, creating dramatic, sweeping patterns in the southern Israel sky.
They do it to help each other find food and to fend off predators.
By grouping together, the starlings not only find safety in numbers but their changing movements and shifting collective shape confuse their would-be attackers.
Until 20 years ago, starlings came to Israel in their millions, but their numbers have dropped to flocks of between a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand, though researchers have not yet identified the reason for the decline.
(Eli Berlzon, Ran Tzabri, Lee Marzel)