The Mysterious Black Clouds of Birds: Murmurations Explained

[@yazcheese]

One highly relevant and super interesting concept that I was surprised wasn’t mentioned: emergence or emergent phenomena. It doesn’t just help explain how murmurations work, but also helps to understand all sorts of other collective/synergistic animal behaviors, some human social/anthropological phenomena, and even consciousness itself. It’s amazing.

[@tuseroni]

basically it's like doing the wave. you see the person next to you and in front of and behind that person stand up, you stand up too. thus: the wave.

[@stardaggerrihannsu2363]

Yeah, in 6 dimensions in real-time!

[@proffesionalweredog7426]

due to your pfp i read that in moss' voice

[@symphonicstorm317]

A couple months ago I was driving along a highway, and when I came out from under an overpass there was one giant flock of birds in the sky, so big that I couldn't actually see them all at once. It was beautiful and terrifying.

[@SirRealityGamer]

When i lived in Dublin I never seen this happen but when I moved to the country it was totally amazing and gave me an appreciation for nature

[@PINGPONGROCKSBRAH]

Yayy!! I requested they do a video on this and they made one! I feel so honored :) I probably wasn't the only one, but still. You guys are awesome.

[@BrokenPointeShoes]

I saw murmurations for the first time this winter and was absolutely fascinated. Thank for the video!

[@Joshcoupe325]

I was asked to watch this video as part of my BEng Mathematics module. How excited was I when after clicking the link the Sci Show logo appeared!

[@EllieDimambroDenson]

Last autumn we had a murmuration every afternoon/evening less than half a mile away from our house for about a month!! They are amazing, and kind of look a bit like smoke, except they move so much faster than that and its so beautiful and awesome to watch. Thank you so much for explaining why they do this!! =)

[@f.b.jeffers0n]

You, my good sir, just got me really, really excited for the episode on White Holes!

[@ciprianticu6124]

You guys are awesome. I really love your show. There should be more channels like yours. I really appreaciate your work and effort !!!

[@scarsonjr]

Very cool! Another great episode!

[@JwilliamsAssociates]

I've always wondered about this. I've pulled over on the freeway to watch what appears to be a liquid dance in the air

[@OMGshinyobject]

Please add sci show space to your list of channels on KZbin (other channels tab) as that is how I navigate between channels when I am on my mobile device

[@SciShow]

AGH! How did I not do that already!! Also, cool idea to use that list that way.

[@nonolae7442]

so glad my Biology teacher showed me this channel :)

[@emchartreuse]

I love Starlings, I love the way they chatter to each other and make all kinds of weird and adorable noises. I know they're an invasive species but seeing them always makes me happy, especially when they flock up at dusk.

[@techfanatic8368]

Great documentary

[@DanielC01000100]

Wow!! Impressive!! You never know the wonders you see in everyday world

[@js2529the]

Nature is so beautiful.

[@ronodar]

The explanation of starlings surviving better with more starlings around kind of remind me of the geth and their hive mind that improves with proximity to each other.

[@Rdsxfn17]

Saw a "murmuration" in Rome myself and it truly put me in awe. Didn't know what they were at the time but it is insane. Birdshit everywhere though, literally. And more interestingly it was all along the maine river in Rome. (TIber)

[@ellock1998]

It would be cool to get 200+ people and tell them to only copy the 6 people around them. See if humans could make it work then.

[@jeremybong7238]

My thoughts exactly!

[@xpndblhero5170]

What they can use as information as to where all the other birds are is invisible to us... They can feel the air flow that comes off the other birds around it so they can tell when another bird is getting closer to it. Humans aren't in many situations like that but the best analogy I can think of would be skydiving and feeling the wind resistance change when somebody gets in front of you or below you.... You can feel the wind resistance change before they're in front of you so it's like a cone of air around the person telling you what they're about to do, now imagine that in all directions around you like a bird flying and that should give you an idea of how they do it without crashing into each other.

[@gatomaru]

can you make an episode on the history of surgery? how old is it? who started it first? how was it like back then? what is the future about it?

[@chrysik.5755]

Amazing! I think this is where the idea of PSO (particle swarm optimization) came from. The main idea of the algorithm is exactly the same.

[@MarcosProjects]

Can you do an episode about the permafrost feedback loop and/or climate change feedback loops in general please?

[@Time2Warp]

and then they evolve into powerful Staraptors!

[@siyarscheltens6973]

but first they evolve into staravia

[@GrimrDirge]

As an anarchist, I find this beautiful.

[@PinkChucky15]

I've been lucky enough to have seen this before and it's amazing :-)

[@iartistdotme]

Here in Florida they seem to divide into two groups and crash together which I assumed was to get flying insects to eat. It is a glorious sight and I can almost hear the crash of cymbals.

[@Akronological95]

Hey SciShow, can you do a video on Terra forming?

[@sydwys8]

This reminds me of how I learned to march in marching band. We were told to watch only the people nearby to make sure our part of the formation makes sense. Of course, this usually meant focusing on the person to the immediate left and right, not 6 or 7 entities like these birds.

[@CrazyBear65]

Nice collection of still pictures. I guess y'all couldn't find any actual video footage, since there's only about 25 or so other videos here on youtube of murmurations of starlings in flight. We get them in northern Virginia too, usually in the fall, when they're massing to migrate southward.

[@rogertulk8607]

I used to see these fairly ofen when I travelled daily over the Burlington Skyway near Hamilton, Ontario. Also, I remember seeing a documentary that showed schooling fish exhibiting similar behaviour, with a similar explanation.

[@majicmastaan3179]

Respect n love for my brother !

[@sadanyagci]

They most likely use an aspect of instincts I recently discovered and have been experimenting with in humans, where self and inter-group biological information is made easily accessible. I have no idea who to talk about it to in order to get other researchers involved in looking into this with me, but the implications and possible applications I've found so far are astounding.

[@mikeeuy4122]

you probably won't see this reply since it's 7-year old, but i'll try my luck anyway. did you end up studying this aspect of instincts you claim to have discovered? i would be very thrilled to read about it :)

[@sadanyagci]

@@mikeeuy4122 7 years later, I'm still studying it. Problem is, with no previous research, it's incredibly difficult to start studying it formally. Studying it formally is a precursor to producing reliable published papers, which is a precursor to others trying to replicate my findings. Science is long and slow. So far, I finished a bachelor of science in psychology. Looking at next steps, degree-wise. I'm also building a website where I'm writing everything I've found so far, anecdotally. Just posted the link in my bio. Sorry about rejecting your LinkedIn invite, by the way. I saw that before I saw this message. You can send another invite, if you like.

[@JCMLR]

I visited your website and read some parts of it. Defintely very interesting apprach to "instinctive" behavior. Would love to learn more!

[@sadanyagci]

@@JCMLR Sure :) What would you like to know?

[@JCMLR]

@sadanyagci I think its easier to state my main issue, which is engaging in destructive behavior due to stress. This stress is caused by some complex PTSD (childhood trauma), and based on what I read in your website so far, knowing how to listen and understand my body nodes, I can find other means to redirect the need of engaging in negative behavior into positive behavior. Also, eventually, down the line, I want to have a better sense of self, purpose, intelligence, and definition of "success". Sorry if this is way too much info. Thanks for your reply!

[@themotherbrassica]

Hank, you may wish to reconsider your use of the phrase "gathering intel" when you described the birds observing external stimuli. These birds aren't going to use the information they gather to perform analysis or create predictive models. (Unless they're somehow more advanced than anyone has seen...)

[@josh_m]

Seeing this in real-life is really amazing.

[@TheLifestream]

Damnit, I thought that said "The Math and Mystery of Marshmallows". I got excited. :P Still, pretty interesting

[@215dagby]

I love these science videos. I'll sum up every one of them. "Here's what we know: _____. Here's what we don't know: _____. Here's some speculation: ______. We're lost in the sauce. Yay science."

[@coreymicallef365]

The way you described the interactions of the birds with only a few other birds around it sounds similar to atoms in a lattice.

[@MrRizeAG]

Emergence, man. Emergence.

[@IceMetalPunk]

In many ways, emergence is the foundation of life and living.

[@MrOnTheCheap]

It's funny this video talks about how cool murmurations are, and that you gotta see it. Then you watch the video and see nothing but still pics.

[@SailorDaniel]

Will Scishow please make a video to address the Thunderbolts project theory?

[@sophiaweng6685]

The technical term for a group of unicorns is called a blessing. A blessing of unicorns :D

[@dieselscience]

+Sophia Weng ...and they're only found in North Korea.

[@IoCalisto_]

+dieselscience I knew they were hiding something...

[@dayzneverland5202]

+Sophia Weng What's interesting here is that we have a collective noun for something that doesn't exist. I wonder what a group of angels is called...?

[@sophiaweng6685]

dayzstiu A group of angels is called a host, or more specifically a heavenly host.

[@dayzneverland5202]

Sophia Weng What about a collection of gods? Since we're talking about fictitious characters.

[@amegenshiken]

Hm... The way a Murmuration of Starlings move in a group had me thinking, the closest thing humans have to the workings of a murmuration of starlings would be the long-distance travel formation used by the Survey Corps in Attack on Titan. Everyone's riding on horses breed for speed and endurance and a system of smoke flares are used. -Green in a specific direction (used by the leader)=Go this way. -Red (used by those at the edges)=Normal Titan, turn away from this area. -Black (used by those at the edges)=Aberrant Titan, move away from here while we *try* to kill it. Okay, I think I've typed enough about Attack on Titan already. That also reminded me of the Karu (a type of small fur-ball youkai in the Shojou anime/manga series "Natsume's Book of Friends"), who have a tendancy to move as one somewhat like... a murmuration of starlings! Except more dangerous (last I checked, starlings don't have feathers that can turn into poisonous needles like the fur of a Karu). So maybe the term "murmuration" could also be used to descripe a group of Karu...?

[@Markus9705]

Math is beautiful.

[@DragonLoreMan]

I don't know why you'd have the name you do and wear your political opinion/identity on your sleeve as brashly as this, but I agree, math is beautiful. It's a spectrum in which we look at the world in a much more clear and vivid way, without the fog and the unknown variables that surround it that is perceived by the naked eye.

[@Markus9705]

DragonLoreMan Why _wouldn't_ I name my account after my political views? Am I disturbing you? Fine, then you can be quiet about it.

[@KustomFu]

I want a pet starling

[@OfficialCallKills]

You are stupid. and I assume that if given the chance, would introduce a flock of invader species into an ecosystem.

[@AlkaRez]

OfficialCallKills fuck yeah i would, yolo

[@Darasilverdragon]

AlkaRez I think you need to be indulging in more than just a short youtube series, as far as your education goes.

[@KustomFu]

OfficialCallKills Sorry, but you are the one that's stupid. For starters, "A" starling is not "a flock" of starlings.

[@OfficialCallKills]

"For starters" says one thing. What an amateurs.

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

Very nice info!!! Could you make a video about the alternative theories on KZbin that are outside of the mainstream!

[@sethzard]

They aren't theories, they are hypotheses. Sci show deals with solid facts (except when it comes to gm)

[@LightningSonic]

sethzard What is gm in this case?

[@sethzard]

***** Genetic modification. They took the video down admittedly.

[@sethzard]

***** Genetic modification. They took the video down admittedly.

[@LightningSonic]

sethzard I wonder why... Any inklings?

[@akawhut]

At 3:00 they form a Dragon.

[@poeticsilence047]

I noticed that too, was like damn, natural art

[@moukidelmar]

This sort of mass thought effect is common enough in animals that live in herds or schools. Just watch the movements of a sardine ball when they're under attack from dolphins and you get the same sort of thing. What i think IS very intriguing though is that this effect has been observed in humans as well. If you put a bunch of people together in one place for any span of time these little human currents will also develop. Like for example, when you are on the floor of a large convention, you can sometimes get swept along by the crowd to somewhere you weren't intending to go by simple dint of not being able to move anywhere else.

[@oafkad]

Funnily enough if humans DID do this you wouldn't see traffic basically anywhere outside of a few choice places in a few choice countries (almost none of which being in the US). But we don't, and BAM traffic. Once automatically driving cars exist you'll see traffic vanish in most places because cars will start acting like Starlings.

[@SciShow]

WOOOOAAAAHHHH TOTALLY! I remember seeing this intense flash application simulating what intersections would look like if all cars talked to each other. Found it...looks like the application is down, but you can watch a video of it here: www.cs.utexas.edu/~aim/

[@oafkad]

SciShow Super cool video, thanks for that!

[@SomeoneCalledDana]

Starlings: the champions of cooperation

[@jonhwalsh4900]

COOL !

[@LeslieAB30]

You have to remember that flocks of birds, like shoals of fish are NOT comprised of many individuals but many separate bodies all connected to the same group souls. Creatures at those states of evolution have not yet 'individualised'. They share a common consciousness with each other. There may be a small degree of autonomy, but not to the same level as more evolved species. This also applies to the vegetable kingdom, and even the mineral kingdom, It is not until rather like cell division that aspects of consciousness individualise - breal away from the group that separate bodies can be thought of as individual beings. Compare some species of deer, which behave more 'instinctively' with members of the feline and canine families that can reason and behave strategically.

[@MrPostm]

For a topic about the fluid movement of a flock of starlings, maybe a videoclip would be more appropriate than a few still images.

[@jackbrown818]

The more starlings the better reaction time? dude they're like the Geth of the bird world

[@appayourflyingbison5466]

One time when i was young my father and i were in my room and as we looked outside we saw a whole whatever of bluejays fly into the backyard and eat whatever they could see and flew off. I would say there were over 100 bluejays

[@luc94era]

The world's largest underground housing project, very impressive.

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

Director Alfred Hitchcock's classic film The Birds. One mans take on Murmurations of Starlings and Murders of Crows.

[@MyCoolHat]

I was literally thinking about this today. Now I come home and see a video about it. In conclusion, I apparently control the internet with my mind. Which makes me both happy and sad in equal measure. Really though what a weird coincidence.

[@brunoalves-pg9eo]

Murmurations remind me a lot of how school of fish behaves when near a predator, they also have murmuration-like movements. So I think it's basically the same concept but instead of fish it's with birds flying.

[@isnerdy]

Sociology looks into a similar phenomenon in humans, when they're in massive groups. Individual though seems to all but go away, and responses become automatic. Attention is extremely high in that scenario. I wish I could remember the term for this, but I sold that textbook back.

[@EmanuelMay]

I know it under the simple term "Group Behaviour" or "Crowd Behaviour". But that just describes the behaviour of the whole group, not of the behaviour of the individual inside the group. The only term I know of that is "Role", but I don't know if that's what you were looking for ;)

[@froilen13]

do you ever get invitations from discovery channel to start a show?

[@MrRizeAG]

Why the fuck would SciShow downgrade to TV?

[@tytube3001]

Discovery channel is a joke these days

[@froilen13]

to get more moneys? they seem to need them, always asking for "ways to help" and stuff

[@ilovehistory5210]

tytube3001 same with history channel... The History channel guaranteed no history since 2010.

[@DatGreenMonstah]

if there was a way you could hook a cam on one or more of the birds during the time of year they create murmurations then maybe they could also see from the birds point of view. Plus, how cool would that be to be inside one of these flocks and see how things work from the inside.

[@srawat27]

Don't fish do the same thing?

[@sunshineninety9]

Dying to see video of murmurations... why didn't you include!?

[@tomholloway2]

Interesting - and clearly explained as far as I can tell. It's a pity you chose to gabble at high speed.

[@lvl5lucario]

Yay, something not depressing!

[@nicsnort]

"Fly away now. Fly back to school, little Starling."

[@LordSlag]

And a group of lawyers is a "Conspiracy".

[@athilalthaf6222]

Do a video on swarm intelligence

[@JagoBridgland]

starling mumurations are very common on the burnt down west pier on Brighton beach

[@Mumbolian]

I'd love to see a video about their extinction. Also curious to know what the biggest extinction event was if that is the second biggest.

[@MindManiacMarcus]

Don't show us any video of starlings murmurating or anything, that would just be to convenient.

[@EmanuelMay]

Also expensive, because they would need to pay for a license to show the videos, right?

[@youmaycallmeken]

Is a murmuration the same as a swarm? And are the workings of the movements this massive group of birds the same as with gnats?

[@Neronix17]

Always found these swarms terrifying, it'd just take one change in the birds decision of how they treat humans and boom, engulfed in the black cloud of feathers.

[@kq72]

Haha, I always have nightmares about this (not literally). Just imagine how some animals could rebel against humans, and cause mass destruction.

[@InShortSight]

why would they choose to fly towards a potential predator when they can so easily fly away?

[@antivanti]

InShort Sight Also it would have to be a sudden change in ALL of the birds since it is an emergent group behavior and not a top-down behavior dictated by a single individual.

[@Neronix17]

InShort Sight Didn't say it was a rational fear, and in that numbers they could easily be the predator. Anders Öhlund Taking it a little too serious I see.

[@InShortSight]

Neronix17 What's a rational fear? c:

[@LeoAbukar]

As a child i always thought murmuration was the cause of wind.

[@DawnaJones_Evolution]

Not just starlings have mastered what humans have not. They are just the birds most often seen.

[@Groaznic]

An actual video of the god damn thing would have been nice.

[@Groaznic]

@Ebolio Maggio You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

[@markdemell6087]

Potty mouth!

[@noviceprepper53]

Hi, I have a question. Scientists tell us that all humans are related, that our distant ancestors all came from Africa. So then, what is the mechanism for our physical differences, why do the Chinese and Japanese have differently shaped eyes or why do Africans have darker skins and Norwegians and English have paler skins? I want to understand how humans became so physically different. Thank you. Love your show.

[@oO_ox_O]

Evolutionary pressure in the case of melanin in the skin in order to find the right balance between enough Vitamin D and skin cancer. For they eyes could be selection done based on "culture" of what was more likely considered beautiful at a time (also small group effects).

[@noviceprepper53]

thank you

[@mysyn]

We actually use this basic flocking math/rules in CGI visual effects when creating crowds. With some very simple rules you can get very complex behavior.

[@amtra1778]

Pack of flamingos = flamboyance CCCC:

[@leemurdock5222]

Would have great to show a video of them flying...

[@SINQUEFIELD83]

Very quickly!

[@celtgunn9775]

I love the name for a group of Crows. A Murder of Crows. 😁

[@nonchalantd]

good 1

[@Nupid_Stoob]

It's basically how our Brain works, in yet a different and much much more simple way. Just like our Braincells react to each other around with Neurotransmitters, the Birds react to Movement around those fixed birds each one has, but in a smaller scale. Maybe there is something that connects the reactions of the Bird to each other and the reactions of Cells in our Brain. I don't say the Birds form a "Brain" in their Murmurations, but kinda yes..but in a much much much much smaller way like lines of Code in Programming as a Programm. Let's they form a "natural Operating System (=nOS)" with X-Bits (e.g. 32/64 for windows versions or 8-bit on the first gaming consoles) where the X is = "Cells" in an "nOS". Marmuration tend to be reacting faster, seemingly more "intelligent" in a small size way. In a Marmururation maybe 20 ranging up to let's say 500. 20Bit nOS = 20² "lines" in the nOS ~ 400 Bits 500Bit nOS = 500² "lines" in the nOS ~ 250000 Bits (244.14 MBits) Not to forget the Brain with it's MILLIONS of Cells in the Brain. I don't even know how much that are, but even the amount of subscribers SciShow has. What an Amazing Murmuration We'd made! 1.668.111 Subscribers at this given moment. 1.668.111Bit nOS = 1.668.111² "lines" in the nOS and that would be around amazing 2782594308321 Bits (2591,49 GBits or roughly 2,53TBits) to perform a more than beautiful Murmuration, which would react as quick as in a 100000th of a second in case of an Predator =D Just an End to a too long Comment. Move along. Nothing to see here anymore. Go home.

[@DrgnZip]

Wait, are we talking about neuroscience, ecology, or programming?

[@Nupid_Stoob]

I don't know..just my thoughts that rapidly shot throug my Murmuration..eh brain ^^

[@TheCloverskull]

Murder of ravens is the most brutal name for a group of animals.

[@TheCloverskull]

***** Shit, I kinda just assumed that a murder goes for every bird of the corvus genus, my bad.

[@djERICSPEEd]

+Cloverskull I was shocked he didn't mention a murder of crows. True, as _2000jago_ pointed out, it only applies to crows. A group of ravens is called a *Conspiracy* as well as an "unkindness". There is some deep seeded mistrust of these birds. Nonetheless at least you brought the term to the table and got the discussion going. Peace.

[@TheCloverskull]

ERICSPEEd To be honest, a conspiracy is still pretty fucking metal name for a group of anything.

[@djERICSPEEd]

Cloverskull As mentioned when in the start of video bird groups have some killer names that's for sure. Peace.

[@chiar0scur0]

Scishow! Do a story on the ULFBERHT sword!

[@Wilks363]

01:15 so they are in essence "The Borg"

[@qhack]

The whole time I watched this, all I could think about was Ted's Holdover

[@SebCoxCatnip]

Interesting, imagine if all our smartphones and tablets communicated with the closest 7 other devices at any particularly time and combined their processing power to create a form of technological swarm intelligence... I can foresee The Starling Project as a harbinger of some machine-intelligence apocalypse :3

[@KnowledgePlaylists]

Whats the turquoise background mean again? Man I hate it when you forget to say what type of episode it is now that you took away the little logo that used to pop up in the bottom right corner.

[@Pythagoras211]

Telepathy

[@stardaggerrihannsu2363]

No, dude its not aliens! Do you go to Texas public schools?

[@Isaaclichtenstein]

Why didn't you include any videos?

[@recklessroges]

For me the collective noun for larks wins: an exhalation of larks.

[@theicechinchilla]

Can you make a show about the Tasmanian tiger?

[@Th3UnluckyGam3r]

"So what is it?" "I've never seen one before, no one has. But I'm guessing it's a white hole." "A white hole?" "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A black hole sucks time out of the universe, a white hole returns it." "So that thing is spewing time... back into the universe?" "Precisely, that's why we're experiencing these curious time phenomena onboard." I sincerely hope that was a Red Dwarf reference

[@Farmfield]

Not much of a mystery though. This kinda flocking is actually very simple to replicate in rule- or event based particle systems like PFlow or Thinking Particles and Blender has an actual boids-function and you can easily produce some pretty spectacular results like in this clip - vimeo.com/33060558

[@sciencefreakdog]

2:55 made me think of "for the birds"