Roberto Biddau, a 41-year-old doctor from Sassari, Sardinia, has shared a captivating video of the annual starling murmuration gracing the Italian skies. This mesmerizing phenomenon occurs around the same time each year, leaving Biddau and countless others in awe of nature's artistry.
Mr Biddau's video, captured in November, offers a front-row seat to the synchronized ballet of thousands of starlings. Their coordinated movements, forming intricate patterns against the backdrop of the Italian sky, leave one mesmerized.
"The birds meet in the city at sunset and go to rest in the trees," he told The Guardian. "They are migrating from north to south; in autumn, they arrive in Sassari, and many people watch them."
Watch the video here:
According to The Guardian, while the precise reason behind starling murmurations remains an enigma, two leading theories suggest it serves as a survival strategy. One proposes that these massive formations help the birds conserve warmth before roosting, while the other suggests they maximize their chance of evading aerial predators.
Adding to the mystery is their remarkable ability to move in perfect synchronicity, resembling a single organism. A 2013 study revealed that each starling, in an intricate ballet of coordination, responds instantaneously to the movements of its six closest neighbors, maintaining the group's cohesion.
