What’s up with all the weird blackbirds flying around North Alabama?

You’ve probably seen the massive flocks of blackbirds flying around lately–we especially notice them between the Research Park and Madison Blvd. exits on 565 around 5 o’clock.

They appear every year during December and January for their peak season.

What are the blackbirds doing?

The birds are moving in a pattern known as “murmuration.” According to the Columbia Audubon Society, flocks travel across the sky in these tight formations as a way to avoid predators.

Watching them fly can be pretty cool (or creepy, depending on who you ask!), and there are so many they seem to take up the entire sky. Ornithologists (people who study birds) still have tons of questions about this spooky but spectacular behavior.

Where else does this happen?

European starlings, one of North American’s most common birds, make up the majority of these flocks.

Their murmurations occur all across the country from places like Arizona to Florida to New York.

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