You find yourself out on a walk as winter dusk sets in when, without warning, calm skies are suddenly filled with a whirling, liquid-like mass of birds, moving in stunning synchronicity.

This is a starling murmuration, one of nature’s awe-inspiring spectacles and still shrouded in a little mystery.

Common starlings are one of Yorkshire’s most familiar birds, yet many don’t fully appreciate their dazzling qualities.

Starlings have fantastic plumage which changes from a glossy green, black and purple sheen during summer to a stunning dark speckled white in winter, making them one of our loveliest and underrated sights – and even more so when they gather in flocks.

No one knows for certain why starlings put on such mesmerising aerial acrobatics during the winter months.

Avoiding predators through safety in numbers is one common theory.

These dazzling dances attract more and more birds as they progress, so it could also be that the murmuration is a way for birds to ‘share’ news of the best local feeding areas.

Autumn roosts usually begin to form in November, and last until early January.

More and more birds will flock together as the weeks go on, and the number of starlings in a roost can swell to around 100,000 in some places.

Other birds like knot will murmurate on the coast, but it’s starlings that create the famous shifting shapes over wetlands and reedbeds.

Occasionally they are spotted in towns and cities although these are sadly now much less common as buildings are made no-go areas for our feathered friends.

There are almost two million starlings in the UK; but numbers have declined by over 60 per cent in the last 40 years.

The decline has been so sharp that starlings have been added to the Red Data List of species of most conservation concern.

No single reason can explain their decline, but habitat and food loss are key factors.

Starlings prefer to feed in open areas, with rich soil full of insects like cranefly larvae, spiders, moths, and earthworms.

It’s these sorts of open areas which are being lost every day to development and urban sprawl, and why you may need to travel to watch a big murmuration swirl.

Describing a starling murmuration rarely does it justice – the best thing is to see it for yourself.

One of the best places in North Yorkshire to see a starling murmuration is Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Ripon City Wetlands nature reserve.

The birds start to gather around thirty minutes from sunset and can be seen performing across the reserve until they descend into the reedbeds to roost.

Watching a many-thousand-strong flock ripple and dance across a dusky pink winter sky is one of nature’s best wildlife spectacles, and a wonderful way to welcome in the New Year.

Alternatively, take a trip to the Trust’s Potteric Carr reserve in Doncaster; the reserve is known nationally for murmurations of up to 50,000 starlings visit Potteric Carr between November and January, where they roost in reed beds.

With acres of sky above you, and the promise of a hot drink in the on-site café afterwards, it’s worth braving winter’s chill to see a murmuration in action.

If you’re looking for something closer to home but a little less guaranteed, there are several places in and around York that have historically seen starling murmurations.

Bilbrough and Strensall have both had large starling murmurations overhead as recently as 2020, and smaller groups are sometimes seen closer into the city or flying over the A64 and A1M.

If you do get out and about, make sure to send us your photos – a murmuration really is something special.

Amy Cooper is communications officer with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT)