murmuration

This Photographer Sees Things in Bird Swarms

Photographer Ariel Leshinsky of Beersheba, Israel, has spent a couple of years photographing starling murmurations, those mesmerizing, swarm-like flocks. But Leshinsky adds a dose of creativity: he aims to capture and select moments when the random swarms look like recognizable things... like the "seal" in the photo above.

An Eye-Popping Starling Murmuration Captured in Black and White

In the relatively warm winter between 2014 and 2015, common starlings were found staying in the Netherlands instead of migrating to the south. Photographer and filmmaker Jan van IJken took his camera out and shot this beautiful short film titled "The Art of Flying." It shows thousands upon thousands of birds flying in eye-popping swarms (known as murmurations).

Stunning Photos of Starling Murmurations that Aren’t

There are a few good reasons why you should go about getting in touch with a photographer before using his or her work. Even if they're okay with blogs and news outlets pick up the work without their permission (not saying they should be, but some are) you might be missing some critically important information about the series.

Such is the case with artist Alain Delorme's series "Murmurations," because these photographs that circulated the web initially as beautiful captures of starling flocks (better known as murmurations) in amazing shapes aren't actually photos of birds at all... the images are manipulations comprising of thousands of plastic bags made to look like starling murmurations.

Mesmerizing Footage of Thousands Upon Thousands of Birds Dancing in the Sky

If you're maintaining any of kind bucket list of things you'd like to experience before you die, you might want to think about putting "a massive murmuration of starlings" on that list. That's what Paris-based director and photographer Neels Castillon was treated to recently, and his video documenting the encounter has been making waves on the web.

Breathtaking Murmuration of Starlings Caught on Camera

Sophie Windsor Clive was canoeing on the River Shannon in Ireland when she came across one of nature's most beautiful phenomenon: a murmuration of starlings. This is when vast numbers of starlings fly together in giant, cloud-like formations. Luckily for Sophie, she had her camera handy.