A Murmuration Of Shorebirds

A murmuration of sandpipers, Washington state, Nov 2018 (screenshot from YouTube video)

When European starlings are frightened by an aerial predator they fly in tight formation in a giant shimmering blob called a murmuration. If you’ve never seen it, check out these two examples: Murmurations in Lorain by Chad+Chris Saladin and Murmuration a 2011 film on Vimeo.

Starlings aren’t the only ones who fly like this. Shorebirds are masters at staying in formation, flying high and low and sweeping between the waves when threatened from above.

In the video below, a shorebird flock flashes black and white at Ocean Shores, Washington in November 2018. Their backs are dark, their bellies are white, so they change color as they turn in the air.

video embedded from Peggy Dolane on YouTube

The flock is doing this for a reason.

Watch a predator dive in at the 0:13 time mark. It looks like a peregrine falcon to me. 🙂

(screenshot from video by Peggy Dolane on YouTube)

p.s. Starlings and sandpipers have other similarities. Back in 2008 I mused about starlings as “Land”pipers.

6 thoughts on “A Murmuration Of Shorebirds

  1. I see this quite often over Humboldt Bay in Humbolt County, California. They are tinier birds and a lighter color. I have seen them doing this skimming over the water. Maybe feeding?

  2. I saw several simultaneous murmurations just North of the San Francisco Airport 12/10/2020. Too far away for bird identification, but they may have been sandpipers.

  3. We witnessed a murmuration of flight from birds, white. They were floating on the water, rose out of the water and dashed in a series of murmurations that were spectacular. In Moses Lake, Wa. No idea of the type of bird, they were definitely floating in a large gathering on the lake,and rose off the water and presented a spectacular murmuration. backdrop of dark clouds, and the sun shining in low from the West created a surreal viewing of this phenomenon. 2/2/2021, would love to know what kind of bird this could be.

    1. Scoter, I can’t think of an all-white duck but it is likely you saw buffleheads or goldeneyes. Ducks fly fast & turn in tight circles when a predator flies overhead.

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