A beautiful short film shared by National Geographic and filmed by Jan van IJken in the Netherland shows a graceful performance by flock of starlings, also known as murmuration. This phenomenon has mesmerized scientist for decades. This performance filmed at dusk, shows thousands of starlings collecting at dusk and densely flying together in a way that looks and sounds like a wave in the sky along with the chirping and singing of starlings. Starling often flock in thousands and sometimes millions, and therefore their ability to fly so close to each other and be able to change direction suddenly and harmonically without colliding into each other has astonished scientists.

Perhaps this event has great beauty, but that is not its purpose. Scientist hypothesize that it's a tactic used by the starling to confuse aerial predators by making it difficult for the predator to be able to choose and focus on one target. On the other hand, this can also be technique to keep them warm and benefit from the thermal energy released by the thousands or millions of neighboring birds. Regardless of their instinctual incentive, the close up visual seen in the film is a well-devised masterpiece of a precious animal that deserves recognition and protection.