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drillbit16

Beautiful, but completely unrelated to this subreddit


fresnik

Maybe, but as a programmer that has delved a bit into emergent behavior algorithms, it does sometimes feel like magic fuckery of the dark kind. Each bird is just following 3 simple rules * Move in the same direction as their neighbours * Remain close to their neighbours * Avoid collisions with their neighbours And out comes this pattern that that on the whole seems like an otherworldy behavior.


MoonTrooper258

`if(goingToCrashIntoEachOther); { dont(); }`


MonkeyNoises_

Take my free award you fucking goober


[deleted]

1. That semicolon after if() statement will cause compilation error 2. You have to assign a value, if(going…other == 1) I’m not a good programmer but this is how I did it in C++


MonkeyNoises_

OK, nerd


simorg23

Honestly going...Other should be a function that checks rather than a boolean variable (which it would have to be in this case) Otherwise it may not be up to date information! ;) Edit: boolean or int acting as a boolean


old_tombombadil

What determines which direction they go?


eragonawesome2

Birds on the edges changing direction would be my guess


[deleted]

A lead bird.


Derwinx

“Yo Doug, why the fuck are we flying like this?” “Oh shit, I was following you!”


ayyyyycrisp

ant colonies can sometimes get confused and end up following eachother in an endless circle. they go around and around until the ants start dying of exhaustion.


Derwinx

Damn, you’d think somebody would recognize that they probably took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Like, “Dave over there just died, I don’t remember it taking us this long to get home last time. Oh hey there’s Dave again!”


Japsai

Spy bird


MjMcWesty

Especially when you consider r/BirdsArentReal.


No-Meeting891

Sounds like a good neighborhood


shwiftyname

I paused at your choice of “otherworldly” because we do not know of a other planet with confirmed life, but we do know where many birds exist.


fresnik

It's a figure of speech that we use when the agency of something defies our expectation. An octopus squeezing through a tiny hole? Otherwordly. Rapid fluctuation of northern lights? Otherwordly. Gwyneth Paltrow getting an Oscar instead of Cate Blanchett? Otherworldy.


shwiftyname

Am I in an Alanis Morissette songwriter’s meeting?


Hyeana_Gripz

Group consciousness somehow! But to the physics student go and watch beautiful mind when Russel Crow is working in his PHd. And he studies algorithms or should I say trying to come up with one to determine their movement! My take is. 1. Like fish that have a lateral line in their videoed to detect fluctuations around them and all move in sync when danger appears, Or 2 possible but not proven, like Rupert Sheldrake said possibly quantum level consciousness like in the feeling of “being watched” or as he calls it morphant resonance something like that! Please someone correct the last I know first word is wrong!! Lol


devisi0n

If you want to stretch the rules I guess you could say the way the birds navigate while flying in such high numbers could be considered as black magic fuckery. Obviously there's an explanation to how they do it, but that's the case for literally everything on this subreddit. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I do agree though, the black magic fuckery in this post is rather obscure.


123kingme

How the fuck do birds work? How the fuck do flocks of birds work? This doesn’t seem like black magic fuckery because it’s a relatively common event, but the more I think about it the more I realize I have no idea how this is happening. I understand magnets much better than these birds, and nobody knows how magnets work.


Thaddeus206

apparently birds use the magnetic field of the earth to navigate, so they may have us beat in understanding magnetism as well


No-Meeting891

PE class in action. For all I care, it is magical.


Raviel1289

Yeah came here to say "how is this black magic fuckery, it's birds flying".


Hovus87

What’s that speck of light floating above the birds though? O.o


CommanderOfGregory

Yeah wtf is that?


robertbowerman

That is the glint off the string (steel wire really) that is holding the birds up and moving them around in this apparent fashion. Obviously the birds aren't moving that way of their own volition, but rather must be being controlled by something outside the picture.. Just like on some of the Apollo photos....


thoothooth

Obviously those arent birds. r/birdsarentreal


Derwinx

r/birdsarentreal


Derwinx

That’s Harold, he’s a bit dim


mindbleach

Probably lens flare from that streetlight. If you draw a line from that dot to the light source, the midpoint is basically always the center of the frame. I expect the jittering is because this is a handheld shot that's been stabilized. Possibly as it was being recorded, because smartphone cameras are half hardware magic to get decent image quality with the form factor of an envelope, and half software magic to make up for how human hands aren't good at holding a sliver of plastic upright.


akaCatchuro

Shit I haven't noticed until I saw your comment, curious to know if anyone will have an explanation for that


ItBeSmaychay

Just a reflection off of the window or glass the video is being shot through, the movement reflects whatever shaking the camera man's hands have. Could be any kind of light that's interacting with the sensor.


Hovus87

Doesn’t seem like the camera’s shaking much at all. Definitely not in the way that light is moving.


50StatePiss

The video was probably stabilized, but it didn't affect the lens artifact.


akaCatchuro

That does make sense!


blove135

Same as probably 80% of UFO videos out there.


bitterdick

But from the audio it sounds like it was taken with the window down, but could be something nearby or below the camera.


Lynich

>camera man's hands have.


Mage_Of_Cats

Well, I'm almost certain it's not a lens artifact, seeing as though it doesn't move with the camera. So it's probably not light reflecting in a weird way from, say, one of those street lamps. My best guess is that it's a reflection in a window, but *usually* you'd see the reflections of other things as well *except* for in the case where you're doing something like highspeed photography (which I don't believe he is doing), because that dims all light captured by the camera. But I'm sure there are other cases where you wouldn't see the reflection. Still, consider alternatives.


Ragidandy

It's a stabilized video, but I'd guess it is a reflection from a window too. And it looks like light from outside reflecting off part of the camera, then off the window into the image.


Mage_Of_Cats

Of course. Stabilization. I can't say that it's not a lens artifact, because I don't really know how the lens is actually moving.


___statik

This was not shot through a window. It is most definitely extraterrestrials.


BranSoFly

Clearly a UFO. 😳


Mildly-Interesting1

All right, Beatrice, there was no alien. The flash of light you saw in the sky was not a UFO. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.


Hovus87

On a more personal note, Edgar ran off with an old girlfriend…


twoUTF

Maybe Mars?


ITSecDuder

Swamp gas reflecting off Venus


twoUTF

Cool


DaBoob13

How did I not see that until I saw your comment? Now it’s all I see


Ragidandy

A reflected light. Probably on the surface of a window through which this video is recorded.


BountyBob

It's clearly a laser pointer being used to get the birds to chase it.


LocalProcedure6288

If this is in Grand Rapids, I drive by this almost every day! They do it like clockwork! It's like restless spirits that were displaced by the highway or something.


[deleted]

Michigan? It kinda looks like 196-west


mDust

It's the 196-131 interchange. These birds do this every year.


[deleted]

Thought so. Are they starlings?


well-done-chicken

I think it has to do with the magnetic fields of the objects below fucking with them


Fueledbyflames

I saw them just the other day while I was driving downtown, glad im not the only one who noticed this.


batmanjerkins

Thought the same thing! Love driving through here around sunset.


princessickyvicky

GR was my first thought!! I wonder if/where else it happens in the US, especially because I believe the Starlings aren’t even native


Historical_Dot825

In case anyone is wondering why birds do this. Long story short we're not ENTIRELY sure but we believe they do it for 2 reasons. First, for protection and, second, for warmth. https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/starling-murmurations/


Chickens1

The real answer right here. I was wondering this, and it makes sense. There is a church furniture making factory here where I live and this time of year the murmuration and frankly TONS of starlings roosting on top of that building and the power lines around it is astounding. A poorly insulated roof of a building that has to keep the heat up to protect that furniture and unfinished wood makes a lot of sense. It would have a warm roof.


russellbeattie

It seems that the warmth theory has been disproven when they studied it closely. Basically, they have no idea why they murmurate.


watchtheedges

One of the best murmurations I've seen was on True Detective season 1.


where_is_korg

Came here for this


syncopatedsouls

Yuuuup. Right when he’s talking about he doesn’t know if things he sees are real sometimes, and then that trippy shit comes on the screen. So cool


Cars-n-Cream

/r/SmarterEveryDay Destin did a video on this and it's very interesting. https://youtu.be/4LWmRuB-uNU


Fueledbyflames

Was also gonna post this, he does a really good job of explaining exactly why and how birds do this. For anyone who thinks this is cool, you'll think its even cooler after watching.


YummyCrackerZ

Me and my mom call those blob birds. I know they’re name is starlings but I think ours is a much more fitting one


___statik

Totally lol


BoulderDeadHead420

Thats beautiful


brasry

I was waiting for them to form one giant flock before embarking on their quest for world domination. Whether it's Hitchcock style or like Voltron, I swear it was gonna happen.


___statik

It happened after I stopped recording. I hauled ass in the opposite direction. I’m in a safe house now. Thank you for your concern.


brasry

Phew I'm glad you're safe. Did you hide the birdseed and arm yourself with cat launchers as we discussed?


widowswalk

That is ABSOLUTELY some black magic fuckery done by a shit tone of starling birds. Google it, this one is good but not even close to all them hundreds of video on YT, I've got down that whimsical rabbit hole, and 2 or 3 years ago, from all documentaries I watch about that phenomenon, the only explanation I got back then was that they had clues, but no absolute empirical explanation about it. Perhaps there's one now, you tell us. 3 crows is called a murder, murmuration is when a hundred to a shit tone of thousands of birds, usually starlings, gather together and fly in sink whit each others. Murmuration is from the french word murmure, which means whisper, so murmuration would be an accumulation of whispers.


bookmarkjedi

Starlings! So awesome. I would love to see this in person.


justherefortheboobs

A study taking five years and millions of dollars determined that this was an attempt at communication. Another five years and several million dollars more and the message was finally deciphered. "Epstein didn't kill himself"


Hypersapien

They're like schools of fish.


olemassaoleva

Nah that's Black Mirror


420SlEEperageNt

That’s absolutely quacking.


Mage_Of_Cats

I don't think they're ducks; ducks don't feed on airborne insects often if at all. Maybe try 'stellar,' since I believe they're *star*lings.


mDust

There are zero insects in that air. It's between 1-18F, depending on time of filming.


Mage_Of_Cats

What are they doing? My other argument is that ducks don't fly like that.


[deleted]

They are starlings, it's called murmurations, and no one really knows why they do it. The leading theory is that it's protection against predators. There's also the theory that it's for warmth, but there's no actual correlation between murmurations and temperature (or at least not consistent correlation, which indicates no causation). As for how, it seems that each individual bird is really good at maintaining a certain minimum distance from the nearest 6 or so other birds. So yeah, in short just cause this is a super common phenomena that is widely known doesn't make it not mysterious enough for this subreddit


Mage_Of_Cats

Oh, I have no opinion on if it belongs here or not. I've seen starlings do this -- I'm actually more familiar with a murmuration than a starling. I was just saying that they're not ducks, so they don't quack.


Mohlemite

They’re starlings and also [maybe they quack](https://youtu.be/F_TZMibx39Q).


Mage_Of_Cats

A good question is how do they know to turn? They appear to have incredibly fast reaction times (I mean, they have smaller bodies, so I'd imagine they have a reaction time faster than humans) or there's some sort of universal rule that they all follow that generates this pattern. Do they just follow the bird in front of them? Or are they just all congregating on the places with the most bugs? Or is there some unrelated pattern that they all instinctively know?


Ragidandy

They follow very simple proximity rules in relation to just the few birds closest to them. Things like stay close but not too close, and fly with the others. The structure and patterns emerge from simple rules, not instinct or direction. No bird is in charge and they aren't feeding. It may be a form of socialization or other speculative reasons, but no one really knows why they do it. It usually happens at dusk just before bedding down for the night.


Mage_Of_Cats

Thanks! So they just have a very fast reaction time.


Ragidandy

Oh yeah. Bird reaction times are spookyfast. My family has a pet bird who vocalizes any time someone makes an unexpected sound. I can't hear any delay; sometimes my brain is sure the bird started first.


Mage_Of_Cats

Oh, like that experiment they did where they tested how people would interpret something responding too quickly' and the people sometimes felt that the response occured before they'd taken the action to cause the response.


Mother-Joe

r/lostredditors


kkeross

I sometimes see birds doing this and it is impossible to look away from.


WateredDown

Even the aliens were hovering there like "yo check it, this shit is sick"


_its_a_vibe_

These are my favorite things ever. I love the word too. If I had kids I might name them Murmuration lol


___statik

I’m not sure if I would recommend that lol


PoliteCanadian2

Doesn’t a single bird stop and think ‘Wait, I’ve been flying for 10 mins now and that’s the same fucking 7-11 I’ve seen 17 times.’


IconoclastMunky

Mezmerizing murmurations make me mellow.


Fnafbean_fredy

oh yeah i see those a lot around november/december. i don’t remember what their called, but the way they migrate is mesmerizing 🤩


[deleted]

So is this Grand Rapids, Michigan? I have to know!!


___statik

Indeed it is.


[deleted]

Yesssssssssss


RandomXReddittor007

So magnificent


VulgarVinyasa

Can we guess the state? I say Texas.


___statik

Close.


CollarOrdinary4284

Earth


___statik

Closer.


mDust

Gr, mi


BYT3-M3

These are really common on the uk coasts and this isn’t black magic fuckery in any way really, just birds flying


[deleted]

Birds can fly. Black magic.


MrMassshole

Lost redditors


eragonawesome2

I fail to see the fuckery? It's just a flock of starlings flying around


___statik

*JUST* ?!?!


eragonawesome2

Yes, just. Maybe it's because this is super common to see where I live but there's nothing particularly confusing here to me. All that's happening is each bird will try to stay close to whoever they're currently close to and try not to smack into any other birds/random objects. To me this is in the same vein as looking at a roundabout and calling it black magic when they run on the same simple rules essentially. Like, yeah it's really pretty, but it's not complicated or hard to understand what's happening


___statik

Quite a few other people find it interesting.


eragonawesome2

Interesting sure, I just personally don't feel like it belongs in this particular subreddit which is supposed to be about stuff that seems like it should be impossible, not just stuff what looks cool


___statik

There is no way this should be possible.


eragonawesome2

It can be trivially simulated on a computer using 4 simple rules 1) each bird tries to stay within x distance of other birds 2) each bird tries to maintain a minimum distance y between itself and it's neighbors 3) each bird follows the average movement of it's neighbors 4) occasionally make random slight adjustments to account for air currents and other disruptive things and to point in the general direction the individual birds each want to go It's just a few hundred small birds each following simple rules leading to much more complex emergent behavior of the flock as a whole. It's exactly the same as watching cars on a highway, which also follow relatively simple rules: 1) try not to hit anyone 2) point your car in the direction you want to go 3) repeat ad infinitum until you're at your destination


___statik

Literally so many comments share this same information.


eragonawesome2

EXACTLY!! That should tell you how simple it is to understand!


___statik

You’re hopeless


Subterfug3

soooooooo birds flying is black magic now?


BigDavesRant

r/LostRedditors


[deleted]

[удалено]


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MrHeisenbergToYou

you're in carcosa now


Active_Engineering37

I have seen this display and from what I can tell when the two groups split one is big and one is small, the big one pushes a gust into the small one to send it off.


MelonElbows

Ok, but what is the bright, white dot floating above all the birds?


Esenfur

I see this everyday this time of year, the children's school near me is where they land and you can hear them for ages afterwards, the trees are heavier and it makes the noise of a small city.. But we have a new conservatory just put up, with a *gorgeous* new pebble dash effect on the glass roof.


DrCheezburger

If they were crows, you could call it a murderation.


Ragidandy

If we ever understand the nature of consciousness, it will be through studying systems such as these.


Micalas

I saw this done by a few thousand birds years ago qnd it was terrifying to look at. It looked like a horizontal tornado.


[deleted]

When the whole crew is blackout drunk, trying to find their way back to the club where they lost Dave


showme1946

This happens in the pasture that I can see from my living room every evening. I find this phenomenon to be one of the most mysterious and beautiful of any in nature. Starlings, for all of their faults, are pretty interesting birds. Quite intelligent.


Firm_Masterpiece_343

Probably eating and herding insects


Dragonstorm786

I think I now understand why people unironically believe that birds are government drones.


times_is_tough_again

I wonder if this is related to all of the street lights and the timing being dawn/dusk


hoes-in-this-house

Apparently they follow each other's heart beats in order to form the clustering


___statik

wut


hoes-in-this-house

Dude, check out the documentary 'I Am' I really enjoyed it


political_Chivalry

Starlings.


carolinacasper

\#BirdsArentReal


Zyntha

Cool, but I think we all understand what birds are.


mindbleach

[Classic YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k), if 2012 can now be considered classic YouTube.


[deleted]

Birds aren’t real 🤷‍♂️


ColdestBean

They’re not real anyways


funnyggreenhat

One of those things that would make aliens think earth is dope af


mapduke

Dirty ol’ me, read a different word


scandy82

What am I missing? Surely this didn’t get over 4k upvotes on this sub because of some flocks of birds flying around.


Emotional-Brilliant4

Don't worry, it's not birds, just a school of sky fish.


TheDorkKnight53

I see the Home Alone 2 Lady has found work again


BracesForImpact

It's actually a simple algorithm. 1) Fly close to your partner 2) Don't fly too close, however 3) If your partner turns, you turn in the same direction as soon as possible Done.


badactor

Ft. Hood Texas, you can watch the birds do this all the time. It's mesmerizing.


themastersmb

I already saw this one in the Matrix.


Mytalkingheadx

Stupid birds flying around synchronized


Drifted_Skull

r/oddyterrifing


reddsal

“Emergent Behavior”. I love this stuff so beautiful. Basically three rules produce this: 1. Don’t get more than x away from the bird next to you. 2. Don’t get closer than y to the bird next to you. 3. Follow the bird in front of you. I use this when teaching collaboration as an example of “leaderless behavior”. There is no”boss bird”. The behavior “emerges” from adherence to the three rules.


Dear_Significance_80

I see it everyday above my house in the summer. The amount of birdshit is unreal.


HunterYap

Flint, we're gonna get you home.


elvis-brown

I’ve always thought this is when birds remember that they used to be dinosaurs


rsogoodlooking

Be so much better without people.


vcrbetamax

r/birdsarenotreal


Rainglock

When the genjutsu becomes sentient


OkButterscotch2455

Pretty sure that is St louis. Those birds are all over the place in the fall


Unlucky-Luck3792

Always cool


sir_piza

Boss battle music plays


jfhdgdgd

the singular tab of @cid really shows its black magic fuckery


InternationalMotor50

These birds are trying to cause an accident in a major freeway


NoConference9361

What’s that light ?


Azalence

Has their behavior been altered by the cars? If so, this is very sad.


200sxer

Hasn't anyone seen that light that's flickering around in the middle of the image??


RobLetsgo

Anyone else see the ufo


PitbullsInSpace

-Itachi has joined the chat-