European Starlings are considered quite the nuisance on the continent: they are messy birds and leave their mark all over the place. Richard Barnes’ study of the birds’ flocks, titled Murmur (spotted via Faith is Torment), depicts them in a particularly spooky way. “A flock of starlings is euphoniously called a ‘murmuration,’ but there is nothing poetic about their appetites,” Barnes explains. “Their ability to focus both eyes on a single object — binocular vision — allows them to peck up stationary seeds as well as insects on the move. Like us, the birds are enormously adaptable but what we admire in ourselves we often abhor in our neighbors.” Check out the series after the jump.
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes
Image credit: Richard Barnes