18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Starling Murmuration over Rome's sky

Each winter around a million to 5 millions of starlings choose the city of Rome as their wintering ground for resting and food as part of their migration. For visitors like myself, the sea of birds silhouette against the sunset sky is a brilliant phenomenon to experience but to the Roman, it is an unwelcome sight. Besides, birds' poop corrodes monuments and creates slippery roads, which leads to accidents. It would be more bearable if the birds stopped by for a short period, but this is the entire winter, and sometimes even longer. Therefore, to some Romans the starlings' visit is, to be honest, unwanted.

Photo Detail
Date Uploaded: 11.2020
Photo Location: rome, Italy
Camera: Canon EOS 5DS
Copyright: © joSon Studio