Health & Fitness
The Flocking Experiment
The flocking of birds is an annual treat and a sure sign of fall. But how exactly can you shut up hundreds of chattering birds without firing a gun? Read on and I'll tell you.
I missed it this year. At least a few times in the fall I see a huge flock of birds, usually starlings, weaving and diving their way through the air and landing on a telephone wire or treetop. These bird flocks are a signature part of the fall season along with cold, crisp air and falling leaves. Last year a huge flock landed in my backyard and the simultaneous chitter chatter of hundreds of birds was unforgettable. That's when I decided to do an experiment.
Several years ago I watched in awe as a friend of mine quieted down an entire brood of chicks by imitating a hawk screech. Instinctively, each chick stopped peeping and froze. They were only a few days old and never knew the danger of a hawk yet this protective behavior was built into their DNA.
Could a high pitched hawk screech do the same to a few hundred starlings?
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Last year when I found myself under two hundred yapping starlings, I instructed my youngest daughter to imitate the hawk's screech noise. Upon imitating the hawk, almost all birds quieted down to see where the noise had come from. It was amazing to see how their vigilance spread like a wave throughout the flock and quieted them down. My daughter thought that was cool too and proceeded to give up her thin veil of hidden identity by clucking like a chicken and topping that off with a horrible impression of a chicken hawk. This time, the birds looked at each like she was crazy, realized that they had been fooled and flew nonchalantly to a more distant tree top. So the experiment works as long as you refrain from clucking.
PIGEON FLOCK OF FRENCHTOWN
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Even though I did not catch a few hundred starlings with my camera, I did catch a couple of other flocks. Every morning on Frenchtown Road I see a flock of pigeons huddled together on a telephone wire. They look so despondent but are probably taking in energy from each sunrise. (See the pictures here.)
TURKEY FLOCK
In addition, I was fortunate to take a few pictures of a flock of 20 wild turkeys. A few years ago, we saw a flock of 35 along a road in upstate New York. My daughter slowly stalked the turkeys and started to run after them only to find out that they fly very quickly, especially when a hungry little girl is chasing them.
