A Mesmerizing Video of Starlings Landing on and Taking Off of Power Lines

Giant flocks of starlings form mesmerizing patterns as they land on and take off of power lines in a fascinating short video by artist Dennis Hlynsky (previously). As Hlynsky points out, the starlings behave almost like dominoes, with one flock’s imminent arrival to the power line causing the ejection of a resting flock. In the latter half of the video, Hlynsky uses digital processing to accentuate the flight patterns of the birds.

I am looking at the way the birds leave the line. Often they move from one line to another … taking off when a second group arrives. Sometimes it looks like a row of dominoes … one flight triggering the bird next in line. Here it is clear to sea the original take off is not sequential but appears to be crowd reactive.

via Gizmodo Sploid