Why Starlings Don’t Need a Leader to Survive Starling murmuration is a fascinating phenomenon where large groups of starlings move in intricate, synchronized patterns in the sky. This behavior is a defense mechanism that helps protect the birds from predators, such as hawks. When starlings sense danger, they cluster together, shifting and swirling in perfect sync, making it nearly impossible for predators to focus on a single bird. The mesmerizing patterns they create are not coordinated by a le