Watching Birds – The Starling

As more people discover the therapeutic benefits of watching birds it’s taking flight (excuse the pun) as a popular and accessible form of what’s been called green or eco therapy. Put simply it makes us feel good.

While not a substitute for professional mental health treatment, watching birds can be a powerful complementary activity. It reminds us of our connection to the natural world, offers an escape from daily stresses, and provides a unique way to boost our mental well-being.

Today while having a mid-morning break, and with no real thoughts about what I was going to write about, a small flock of starlings flew into a tree outside my window; creating  such a din, as they squabbled, whistled, chattered and chortled amongst themselves, I could hardly hear myself think.

Just imagine this multiplied by thirty!

So there that’s it I knew what I was going to write as the start for my occasional series on the mindful practice of watching birds – I would write about starlings. You don’t have to be a birdwatcher or birder or twitcher to appreciate their sheer beauty and perfection of form.  And you can see them almost anywhere.

A common visitor to our gardens, parks and city streets, they have a beautiful purple-and-green sheen to their black feathers, and are dotted with lots of little white spots like tiny stars. Just look at them in this stunning painting by Jane Tomlinson …

They are famous for their wintry aerial displays, called murmurations – when massive flocks can be seen wheeling over our towns, villages, farmland and coasts. An awesome sight – the Red Arrows of the bird world! 

Here’s one of the best descriptions of a Murmuration I know. Take your time reading it; out loud if you can – let the words talk …

The air begins to quiver and fill with dark scribblings. They’re starlings, thousands of them homing in on their ancestral swamp on their nightly communion. They stream in from every direction, joining then breaking ranks and careering off again. Suddenly they become plasmic, a dark aurora, a single pulsing organism…       They swing up to the sky….. they skim the reeds in folds and falls of black. They fill out parabolas and helixes with a symmetry  you don’t expect from living things. Then suddenly they fall into the reeds. It’s mysterious and transfixing,  still beyond understanding.

From an article by Richard Mabey

Now watch this mesmerising video and be amazed …