Birds of a Feather Flocking Together
By Gene Aronowitz
During the bird migration season, a flock of about a thousand grackles, or a mix of grackles and other blackbirds, gathers around our house for a few days. Grackles assemble before migration in communal roosts, some of which may contain as many as a million birds. We have six windows in our bedroom, and watching and listening to those birds can be stirring and breathtaking.
Periodically, we can watch the whole flock swarm past our bedroom windows in a synchronized oval-shaped formation, first going in one direction and then, abruptly, in another. They fly like a single life form rather than a thousand. Each bird has become one with the flock.
They might suddenly drift into an open field as if guided by a decree. Or they might collectively elevate up into nearby trees, creating a woosh of air and a viscerally uplifting draft. The grackles make whistles and rusty gate-squeaks, as if sharing their delight with one another. Then, they become silent as if meditating.
If we are lucky, they pull together and swarm again. We watch them not only with attention, delight, and admiration, but we also wonder why these birds behave so much more collaboratively than we do.