Author Notes
Image: courtesy of Google free pics.
A murmuration is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles to watch. It is suggested that starlings gather in this formation to deter predators which are confused by these swirling masses. They perform their aerial dance at dawn and dusk from November to February in the UK, their mission to find warmer climes, such as in the southern coastal towns and cities.
How do they not bump into each other? They apparently have very fast reaction times and can make changes in their flight direction in a split second.
They are gregarious birds, flying in flocks for most of the year, living by the code of strength in numbers. Studies have shown that individual starlings fly around within the flock, trying to minimise their risk on the edge where they are most vulnerable.
This example in nature might also be applied to our own survival need to aim for unity in the face of adversity, including war, poverty, famine, climate change etc.
Stellar - used in the sense of primary, prevailing and as a pun on the name of the bird.
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