If you’ve never been fortunate enough to see a mumuration of starlings live, you’ve likely at least seen pictures. The purpose behind a starling murmuration is widely believed to be a defense against predators. When hundreds or, perhaps sometimes thousands, of birds fly in swooping and twisting formation, appearing to operate as one unit, makes it hard for a falcon, hawk or other predator to focus on one bird as a target.
But what about the murmuration from the standpoint of a bird on the inside? How do they avoid collisions? Thoughts on this vary from a community consciousness to a simple reaction to those birds around the individual. And does the starling know what the strategic significance of murmuration is? Likely not. It is more likely that they instinctively stick together when a threat is sensed.
Think of the focus this would take. A starling can’t just go its own way and make its own decisions during murmuration. If they did, many collisions would no doubt occur.
Of course, starlings are not in a constant state of murmuration. At any other time, a starling’s movements would be its own in feeding, mating, raising young. And so, for this human being, I find my self wondering how this might apply to my life. Humans tend to value individuality very highly. When do we ever really involve ourselves in murmuration-like activities where we work for the benefit of the entire group? The military? Government? The problem with these comparisons is that they are designed systems that are subject to change rather than intrinsic. But, perhaps more importantly, participation often requires coercion (e.g., conscription or threats of incarceration for tax evasion) so it is often not a willing participation.
I have seen instances in which threat or tragedy bring many (but not all) together to work in cooperation. Such instances would include natural disasters, man-made disasters, and war. But for the most part, people tend to concern themselves with their own business and fight amongst themselves for control when working together in less threatening situations.
A big irony here is that, as humans with the capability to see into the minute workings of the world in which we live, we should be able to see and accept that we all (across all species) comprise a greater whole. Everything is energy and energy does not die…it just changes form. So, the material stuff that is us was once the material stuff of another form. If you “pull the camera back” to get a greater perspective, we are all part of a constantly morphing entity.
And the question I leave you with is this: If we could come to truly understand this oneness, would it change our behavior? Would we find ourselves in a subtler form of murmuration of our own for the sake of that greater whole? I like to think we would.
Although I could not find usable video of murmuration on a scale such as I’ve seen in real life, I am grateful for the images others have captured of smaller murmurations, which I have included with a song I’ve composed called Murmuration. I hope you enjoy it.