Mouvements aériens coordonnés : le cas des étourneaux

The highly coordinated movements of flocks of birds are among the most fascinating phenomena to be found in nature. The group seems to turn and maneuver as a single unit, changing direction almost instantaneously, leading some researchers to hypothesize that electromagnetic communication or even « thought transference » must be involved. In reality this behavior results from far less mysterious causes. Such movements are a prime example of emergent behavior: the behavior is not a property of any individual bird, but rather emerges as a property of the group itself. There is no leader, no overall control; instead the flock’s movements are determined by the moment-by-moment decisions of individual birds, following simple rules in response to interactions with their neighbors in the flock.
Ghislain Bottein has filmed at the end of the Summer 2005 a huge flock of Common Starlings (Sturnus vulagris) in Killem, North of France.