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image:Fugle,_%C3%B8rns%C3%B8_073.jpg, 300px, Blick of sort sol
Sort sol is a Flocking (behavior), murmuration, a flocking behavior that occurs in the marshlands in southwestern
Jutland,
Denmark, in particular the marsh near
Tønder and
Ribe. Very large numbers of migratory
starlings gather there in spring and autumn when they move between their winter grounds in southern Europe and their summer breeding grounds in Scandinavia and other countries near the
Baltic Sea.
Sort sol takes place in the hours just after sunset. The birds gather in large flocks and form huge formations in the sky just before they decide for a location to
roost
Roost may refer to:
Animal resting
* Roosting, resting behavior of birds
* Communal roosting, a behavior of some birds and other animals
* Monarch butterfly roosts, communal resting sites in monarch butterfly migration
* Bat roost, a list of pla ...
for the night. The movements of the formations have been likened to kind of a dance or ballet and the birds are so numerous that they seem to obliterate the sunset, hence the term "sort sol" (
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
for "black sun"). Sort sol in the marsh near
Tønder can occasionally comprise a formation with up to one million birds. Usually flocks break up when the number of individuals exceed about half a million birds due to excessive internal disturbances in the flock.
If a predator bird enters the flock, the starlings initiate a veritable bombardment with droppings and vomit that soil the feathers of the predator. In rare cases the sticky deposits may render the predator unable to stay airborne.
See also
*
Flock (birds)
*
Swarm
References
*
* (include link to a photo series)
*
External links
7 Incredible Natural Phenomena you've never seen - Denmark's Black Sun no.6
Birds
Earth phenomena
{{ornithology-stub
