Starlings Murmuration Show

We in Brighton and Hove are very lucky that our city is the place where a beautiful spectacle of nature happens every winter afternoon between 3-4pm.

From all over Sussex, starlings gather at the Palace Pier, then proceed to put on an amazing aerial display before they roost for the night.  This is called murmuration and though experts are not positive why they do this lively nightly display, they believe it might be a way of them communicating with each other or used to confuse predators. 

Starlings are now classified as Red status birds which means as a species they are in serious trouble.  Thirty years ago apparently the sky would be black because there were so many, doing this beautiful dance in the sky.  The numbers have now dwindled dramatically in the UK and the hundreds of thousands of starlings that used to flock to Brighton have fallen to around 50 thousand, including those starling that have migrated for the winter from colder climes.

The RSPB's, Abb! (Aren't Birds Brilliant) team will be on Brighton Pier in a special viewing station, every weekend until the end of February, from 1 pm until dark to answer questions.

So if you have a chance on a lovely dry day, wrap up you and your family warmly and go down to see one of the wonders of nature that is becoming rare in other parts of the UK!