Why Are There So Many Birds Swarming The Skies In Natomas?
NATOMAS (CBS13) — Thousands of birds are swarming together in a lava-like flow in the skies over Natomas.
UC Davis avian ecologist Dr. Robert Meese has the answer to what's flying overhead.
"The events themselves are called murmurations, and they're far more common in Europe than they are here in North America," he said.
The beautiful phenomenon caught our attention at dusk in Natomas over the weekend. Meese says the swath is made up of three or four different species of blackbirds and starlings. Thousands of them are looking for one of two things—a place to roost for the night or a common food source.
"There is still enough agriculture in the whole Natomas area that likely what's going on is some of those large grasslands are being tilled and cultivated and that's exposing a lot of seeds and insect larvae to the foraging birds," he said.
The sweeping sight across the sky even stopped some evening commuters who pulled out their cellphones to capture the flock over Sleep Train Arena.
"There's just so many of them, it's enormous," said Olga Brown. "I thought they might have been migrating."
The deep twists and elegant turns are actually called predator swamping, or an effort to escape being killed by their chief attacker, the falcon.
"They are trying to present a confusing kind of a group to the predator. Because a predator wants to select an individual to kill. And if there are many thousands to kill instead of one, it adds a lot of trouble," he said.
While the giant swarms are typically seen between November and February, Meese hopes the community will swoop in and watch the display before it disappears.
"In all cases they're quite beneficial for the neighborhood. Because most of them will be eating insects that are going to be causing damage to crops," he said.