# Did I see a bird orgy last night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753 "2025-08-06T02:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/1 "2025-08-06T02:34:08Z")
On my way home from work yesterday, I stopped for a burrito. When I came out, there were dozens, maybe hundreds, of small birds swarming around four trees that bordered the parking lot and chirping up a storm. Many seemed to be perched, but some were flying. I don’t know enough to tell you what kind of birds they were; smaller than a robin, and mostly a dull brown. It was about 7:45 in the evening, so just early twilight. So, bird experts, what was all the fuss about? Something to do with food, sex, or just gathering together for safety during the night? It was a quarter-mile from the Lexington Battle Green, so they may have been preparing for a revolution (but I wouldn’t bet on it). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/2 "2025-08-06T02:36:35Z")
Any mosquitos around? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/3 "2025-08-06T02:42:48Z")
None that I noticed. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/4 "2025-08-06T02:45:15Z")
Might have been bushtits, which congregate in large groups. [![](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v1/asset/308555001/1800) ](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v1/asset/308555001/1800) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/5 "2025-08-06T02:46:35Z")
Not an orgy, just a bunch of fucking birds. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/6 "2025-08-06T02:46:40Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > smaller than a robin, and mostly a dull brown The ubiquitous LBBs (little brown birds). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/7 "2025-08-06T03:35:37Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > or just gathering together for safety during the night? Mostly this. It was just a flock preparing to settle down for the evening. The excited chirping is known as an “evening chorus” or “dusk chorus.” A lot of thrushes like robins, but also some flocking sparrows (might have been the culprit, though dull brown and smaller than a robin could be more that a few things 😀), blackbirds and others will start up an excited racket just as or after the sun is setting. It generally doesn’t last very long then they go to sleep. It’s a less pronounced and widespread phenomenon than the [dawn chorus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_chorus_(birds)). But since the birds that do it often do it in flocks, it can be locally pretty noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/8 "2025-08-06T03:38:04Z")
Not sure if this will work. > **[New video · Monday, Aug 4 🎬](https://photos.app.goo.gl/q5mEYPdV47yK4ghx8)** ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/9 "2025-08-06T03:47:31Z")
[![](https://i.postimg.cc/B66XhYNp/Untitled-design.png) ](https://i.postimg.cc/B66XhYNp/Untitled-design.png) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/10 "2025-08-06T07:24:46Z")
I watch birds a bunch. I have feeders. I have a crow population that I’m sure are generational in their habitation near me. I’ve seen some wars between species that gets pretty hairy. Mostly the interloper jays start these things. There is an outdoor cat cadre that might cause some upset. I keep a watch they don’t actively hunt bird friends. I’m not any kind of bird expert, just a casual observer. My take? Birds be Buggy. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/11 "2025-08-06T15:47:17Z")
I guessed probably starlings, which often gather in large flocks. > **[European Starling Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/overview)** > > First brought to North America in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they’re sometimes... ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/12 "2025-08-06T15:53:49Z")
[Finches do this too.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ2yvy3T5BI) ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/13 "2025-08-06T16:05:29Z")
As do common House Sparrows. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-see-a-bird-orgy-last-night/1021753/14 "2025-08-06T22:34:01Z")
It’s just all the birds saying good-night to each other. You know, like on the Waltons, only turned up to eleventy.