this flock of birds.....????

Suddenly had this flock of birds carousing around the area of my house this afternoon. They made a quiet-ish, soft chattering noises just like aviary birds but they're so big!! Almost the size of blackbirds. There were about 40 of them. They settled on various roofs for on and off about 20 minutes and then just as suddenly disappeared. Anyone got any ideas what they were?

 

MD They look almost Starling like,but as the light is wrong it is difficult to tell.

They usually flock together at this time of year,parents with youngsters.

I am not sure but it might be safety in numbers to confuse predators who might be looking to pick one off for a quick meal.
They like to use high points to view their surroundings,and look out for either food or the afore mentioned predators.
Also there is often heat coming off the roofs,or small insects that they can search out to feed the young with

Kandy

 

Starlings? Jackdaws? Extras from that Hitchcock film?
http://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/birds.html

 

Might be Redwings from Russia,though it is a bit early for them,usually they arrive around Late September.

 

YEAH PALADIN, I can see them wearing cassocks.

looks like starlings to me :D

 

Other half says they ARE Starlings !!

 

I still reckon they have the profile of a thrush.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/r/redwing/index.asp

 

Definately starlings, they used to congregate on the roofs where we used to live, felt quite eerie at times as there could be a hundred at any one time

 

Thanks all! Neighbours have agreed they seem to be starlings. But what was eerie was the soft chattering noise they made, almost pleasant and so sociable!!

BTW - the light looks od because it was evening but I rejigged the brightness and contrast to show the image better.

Another point all you bird people - how to birds know when they're all going take off? They sit there and sit there and suddenly, without even a 'ready, steady, go' to be seen, they all take to the wing as s single unit. It's amazing!

 

MD.I think the question of them all taking off together has been baffling bird organisations like the RSPB for years.We have been members for years and the quarterly Bird magazine we recieve often have articles about such things.

It seems like one of the birds is a leader,and when that bird takes off a split second later all the others follow suit,though to us it looks like they all take off in unison.

When there are large flocks of birds flying,there is always one at the front,who determins which direction they are going to fly in and when they are going to land or roost.

Kandy

 

MD whilst I am not all that enamoured with starlings their ariel ballet in the evening before they settle to roost is absolutely magic. Many years ago, when I was working in London - I used to catch the train home from Charing Cross - and the station and bridge was one of their roosts. Excellent destressor watching them swirl against the sunset.

As I recall it is for protection against predators - much the same as fish.

 

Regarding the flock of birds - Iwas engaged in 'helping' to erect a large shed during the summer in a garden in this area and also observed this behaviour on the part of a large number of birds.They were a 'nursery' of young starlings which appeared to be getting practise at flying together with a new leader. I read this up during those weeks in an encyclopaedia as it was so engaging to watch them over a longish period. They spread themselves out over several roofs next to each other and seemed to be sunbathing for a time, as they were there for quite a few hours each day.

 

While I was visiting my dad down in Somerset last year I saw thousands of starlings in nearby trees. It was an awesome sight to see the branches of the trees literally bending with the weight of so many birds. The pictures aren't brilliant but they do give an idea of the amount of birds there were. The trees are 50 foot tall poplars.

 

Now that is awesome....

 

What eleagnus didn't tell you was that the shed she was heloing with was mine - I placed photos of it somewhere else on this board but they seem to have disappeared!