During the day, smaller flocks may split off to forage. When (time of day): The two observations featured at the beginning of this article occurred at dusk, a common time to see large flocks, because blackbirds (and associates) congregate at roosts for the night. Online videos abound, and live performances over Columbia by flocks composed of at least hundreds of starlings are not uncommon. Murmurations are a subject in which the realms of birding, particle physics, and art collide-but the birds don’t. The term is used most frequently to describe the acrobatics of European Starling flocks, but true blackbirds can fly in murmuration style, as well (YouTube has some examples). The term “murmuration” describes sizeable flocks that fly in tight formation in complex patterns, often related to predator avoidance. American Robins (family Turdidae) also flock in the fall and winter, sometimes associating with blackbirds.
Rusty Blackbirds are worth watching and listening for this declining species winters in Missouri, but eBird reports for the CAS region rarely report more than a few dozen individuals at a time. Of the true icterid blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are the species most likely to be seen in large numbers in Missouri, while Brown-headed Cowbirds can also mix with other blackbirds. For example, dark-colored European Starlings often mix with blackbirds, but belong to a different family (Sturnidae) than New World blackbirds (Icteridae) starlings may be black birds, but they aren’t blackbirds. What: The term “river of blackbirds” is commonly used, but flocks are not always exclusively blackbirds in the taxonomic sense. They estimated a flock size of 5 million birds, with 75% Common Grackles, 20% Red-winged Blackbirds, and 5% European Starlings. Here’s a video clip that captures ~2 minutes of a colossal flock that they observed for more than 15 minutes: Their rough estimate, at ~10 million “blackbird sp.”, ranks this observation at the top of the high-count list for a single taxa in Missouri as reported on eBird (full eBird list here).Īnother enormous “river of birds” was observed by Ryan Douglas and Vic Bogosian at Eagle Bluffs during the DecemChristmas Bird Count (full eBird list here). This is how Jean Leonatti, Susan Hazelwood, Cathy Harris, and Betsy Garrett described their observation. Any attempt to count the number of blackbirds present is truly a guess. We described it as looking like a black cloud of smoke being carried out of a smokestack…only it wasn’t smoke. The river flowed broadly and continuously for over 20 minutes. This was a ‘river of blackbirds’ that contained millions of birds. High counts: Dusk on Januin Audrain County: Let’s take a look at what’s been seen in the Columbia Audubon Society (CAS) six-county region: In eBird’s current dataset, Red-winged Blackbirds hold the world record for the high count of a single species, with an estimate of 40 million individuals during a Christmas Bird Count in Arkansas in December 1964 ( eBird list). Part two in an occasional series, Birds in Big Numbersīlackbirds can congregate in enormous numbers, sometimes in mixed-species flocks with starlings and other birds.
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