# Flock of birds dies from collision with.............asphalt road **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577 "2020-01-17T18:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/1 "2020-01-17T18:09:14Z")
Yes, two hundred birds committed suicide today, by [flying full-speed into the ground.](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/16/police-answer-mystery-of-hundreds-of-starlings-found-dead-on-road) Also, kudos to the articulate British police detective----for just naturally assuming that _everybody_ knows that a flock of starlings is called a “murmuration”. (Apparently, it was an accident, caused by panicking birds fleeing from a predator, and not paying attention to where they were going.) . ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/2 "2020-01-17T19:45:01Z")
Tower to starlings: "Pull up, idiots! _Pull up!!!_ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/3 "2020-01-17T19:50:35Z")
Murmurations can be an amazing sight. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/V4f_1_r80RY/maxresdefault.jpg "Flight of the Starlings: Watch This Eerie but Beautiful Phenomenon | Short Film Showcase") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4f_1_r80RY) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/4 "2020-01-17T19:54:05Z")
In airplanes this is called “controlled flight into terrain.” Never heard of it for birds. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/5 "2020-01-17T20:50:33Z")
As Life, the Universe and Everything says, > [@](#): > > “The Guide says there is an art to flying", said Ford, "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” I guess they didn’t have the knack. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/6 "2020-01-17T20:54:44Z")
☹ ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/7 "2020-01-17T20:58:49Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Murmurations can be an amazing sight. > > [https://youtu.be/V4f\_1\_r80RY](https://youtu.be/V4f_1_r80RY) That is awesome. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/8 "2020-01-17T21:48:49Z")
I’ve seen birds fly into windows, but that’s more understandable because the reflections can confuse them. ---
**Author:** ![atimnie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atimnie/32/11_2.png) [@atimnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atimnie)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/9 "2020-01-17T22:38:12Z")
_I guess they didn’t have the knack._ They had the knack, you could hear “My Sharona” as they crashed. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/10 "2020-01-18T00:25:36Z")
I think the fact that there was a murmuration is important in explaining this. An individual bird flying into the ground sounds hard to believe, but in a murmuration each bird is paying attention to its seven (yes [exactly seven](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002894)) nearest neighbors. When flying like this, it’s more understandable that they would lose track of the position of the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/11 "2020-01-18T00:34:37Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think the fact that there was a murmuration is important in explaining this. An individual bird flying into the ground sounds hard to believe, but in a murmuration each bird is paying attention to its seven (yes [exactly seven](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002894)) nearest neighbors. When flying like this, it’s more understandable that they would lose track of the position of the ground. Norris: “Gilbert! Where the f_ck are you going?" Gilbert: "F_ck if I know. I’m following Digby!” Digby: “Shit! I was following Norris!” ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/12 "2020-01-18T01:15:45Z")
Excellent username/post combination there. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/13 "2020-01-18T01:19:21Z")
A thread of this nature must needs be incomplete without a posting by **Icarus**. Are starlings less of a nuisance in the UK than in the US? Because, in the US, they are about as welcome as Russian Thistle. I recall hearing a story about a town in Ohio some decades ago which tried to convince them to emigrate by playing sounds of a dying starling on a loudspeaker. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/14 "2020-01-19T03:30:29Z")
Have we a reason why “bird brain” is an insult? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/15 "2020-01-19T04:57:29Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > In airplanes this is called “controlled flight into terrain.” Never heard of it for birds. Lithobraking ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/16 "2020-01-19T06:11:18Z")
They crashed into asphalt? Gives new meaning to “tarred and feathered.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/17 "2020-01-20T14:59:20Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > They crashed into asphalt? Gives new meaning to “tarred and feathered.” Asphalt is not quite the same as tar, Mac. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/18 "2020-01-20T15:13:59Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think the fact that there was a murmuration is important in explaining this. An individual bird flying into the ground sounds hard to believe, but in a murmuration each bird is paying attention to its seven (yes [exactly seven](https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002894)) nearest neighbors. When flying like this, it’s more understandable that they would lose track of the position of the ground. All this nice talk of birds and nature came screeching to a halt when I crashed directly into a goddamn calculus equation. Was not expecting that. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/19 "2020-01-20T16:12:35Z")
Don’t look too hard at nature if you don’t want to see calculus. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577/20 "2020-01-20T17:27:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Asphalt is not quite the same as tar, Mac. 😉 You…out of the pool! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flock-of-birds-dies-from-collision-with-asphalt-road/846577.md?page=2)