Last updated on April 17th, 2022 at 11:56 pm
Starling murmurations are a sight to behold. The birds dance together in big formations, thousands grouping together at once doing aerial stunts. But how can you effectively photograph these displays?
Here are 10 tips for photographing starling murmurations:
1. Seek Out Roosting Sites
Starling murmurations occur when the birds fly in together towards their roosting sites, so seek out these roosting sites if you want to see the birds dance.
Roosting sites are typically sheltered places where starlings are safe from the weather and predators, including reedbeds, cliffs, and industrial structures and buildings.
A few places in the United States known to be good murmuration watching spots include:
- The Acadia National Park in Maine
- The Rio Grande Valley in Texas
- The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida
That said, starlings are extremely common in the United States, numbering over 200 million, and you can find them in many areas.
2. Go at Sunset
Starling murmurations happen when starlings are gathering to roost for the night.
Go at about sunset or an hour before for the best chance at seeing the birds in action.
You may have to wait until after the sunset to see the birds as well, so be prepared to spend several hours out in the field waiting for the birds to appear.
3. Bring Several Lenses
It’s a good idea to bring several different lenses with you to switch your view and take interesting photos of different varieties.
That way, if one lens isn’t capturing the birds in the way you expected it to, you can swap it out for a better one that meets your needs more effectively.
4. Use a Wide-Angle Lens
In general, a wide-angle lens will be your best bet for capturing starling murmurations.
You can think of this kind of photography as similar to landscape photography.
And the specifications you’ll need for your camera will be similar to what you’d need for landscape photography.
For example, the Canon EF 16-35mm Wide Angle Lens (available on Amazon.com), is a lens made for landscape photography that you can also use to capture starling murmurations.
This lens is ideal for APS-C or full-frame cameras, and it’s quite versatile, so you can use it for not only landscape shots but also for more zoomed-in photos.
It also works well in low-light conditions.
Although you can use a longer, narrower lens, you’ll achieve a very different kind of photo and may have difficulty capturing the whole formations the birds are making.
5. Choose a Lens With a Fast Shutter Speed
Make sure that you choose a lens and camera with a fast shutter speed, or else you’ll come out with blurry images. This is simply because of how fast the starlings move.
Still, you may find that the look of a photo taken with slow shutter speed meets your needs as well.
This depends on whether you intend to capture the particulars of the formations or the general feeling of swarming birds.
The ideal shutter speed for photographing starling murmurations is at least 1/125s. You should also set your exposure with a high ISO, mid-aperture.
6. Don’t Disturb the Starlings
Perhaps the most important consideration when photographing starlings is being sure not to disrupt their regular roosting pattern.
Don’t head into the reedbeds where the birds roost and avoid using a drone or other flying device that might disturb the birds while they’re in flight.
Keep your distance, and you’ll be able to photograph the starlings without disrupting their roosting.
Ideally, you’ll find a hiding place like a bird blind where you can hide from the birds to keep from startling them or otherwise impacting their natural behavior.
Some photographers will even bring their portable bird blind to the field to prevent them from disturbing or scaring the birds.
7. Go at the Right Time of Year
Starling murmurations happen during the late fall, winter, and early spring, so mark your calendar to be sure that you look for starlings when they’re most active.
This is true whether you live in the United States or the United Kingdom.
Although starlings are native to Europe, they can now be found across the United States as well.
8. Look for Murmurations During Calm Weather
Starlings are more likely to engage in interesting, active murmurations when the weather is clear and calm, so look for them during good weather conditions.
Although they’ll still reach their roosting spots together during most bad weather days, they’re unlikely to perform the same displays that they would on a clear day.
9. Understand Why Murmurations Happen
Starling murmurations happen because they need each other to stay warm and safe from predators.
Swooping together makes it harder for predators like peregrine falcons to target an individual bird.
Murmurations also help them communicate with each other about food sources.
Understanding why murmurations happen will make your efforts to photograph them more interesting and engaging.
You’ll also get more out of your experience than you would if you were ignorant of these motivations.
10. Use the Group Autofocus Setting if You Have One
Some cameras come equipped with a group autofocus setting that’ll allow you to focus on a group of subjects instead of just one.
This is ideal for photographing large flocks of birds. Although if you’re a more confident photographer, you may be able to get away with single-subject autofocus.
Are Starlings the Only Birds That Make Murmurations?
Usually, when one talks about birds murmuring, they refer to starlings.
The term murmuration technically refers to any birds that gather in hundreds or thousands to fly in the same direction together.
Starlings are not the only birds that make murmurations.
Robins, raptors, geese, dunlins, and flamingos all do this, although these birds, unlike starlings, will fly in a V-shaped formation rather than complex shapes.
Other animals that create murmurations include fish, who create shapes together to scare away and confuse their predators.