Starling Murmurations in Belgium: Where and When Can You See Them?

It is a grey autumn evening, the sun sinks behind the fields and suddenly a black smudge appears in the sky. It grows, stretches out, curls like smoke and then collapses back into a ball. These are starlings: thousands of birds moving through the air as a single being. Such a starling murmuration is one of the most spectacular natural shows you can see in Belgium for free. Put on your Pine Dusk Hoodie, with a row of pines against a fading evening sky, and discover why starlings do this and where you stand a chance of seeing it.

What is a starling murmuration?

A starling murmuration is the large, swirling flock that starlings form just before they go to roost. During the day they search for food in smaller groups on grasslands and farmland. In the evening, all those groups come together. According to Natuurpunt, they form "spectacular starling murmurations at sunset before flying towards a shared roost".

At such a roost, enormous numbers can gather: according to Natuurpunt, sometimes more than one million starlings. Usually it is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of birds.

Why do starlings fly in such a flock?

Protection from birds of prey

The main reason is safety. A bird of prey such as a sparrowhawk finds it hard to pick out a single starling from a large, fast-turning group. The sudden swerves of the flock confuse the hunter. That is why the cloud often moves even more wildly when a bird of prey is nearby. You can also see this fast hunter from above on the Swift Dive Sweatshirt: a falcon diving down with its wings folded.

A roost as an information centre

Natuurpunt describes the roost as a kind of information centre. Starlings that found a good food spot during the day fly back to the same area the next morning, and other starlings follow them.

Some sources also mention warmth as a reason to roost together, but that has not been well studied. Even ornithologists do not fully agree on all the reasons.

How do they avoid colliding?

Thousands of birds, packed closely together, at high speed, and yet they almost never collide. Researcher Charlotte Hemelrijk (University of Groningen) built a computer model of it. It shows that each starling only needs to watch a handful of neighbours, about seven, and that they fly at around 36 km/h. No leader and no "telepathy" are needed: when every bird follows its neighbours, those beautiful waves form by themselves.

When can you see starling murmurations?

• Season: mainly in autumn and winter. In the winter months, starlings from Northern and Eastern Europe join our own birds, making the flocks even bigger. Some of our own starlings actually leave in autumn, mostly for France.
• Time: from late afternoon and during dusk, just before sunset. So check the time of sunset and make sure you are there in good time.
• Weather: a clear evening gives the best backlighting, but starlings still go to roost when it is cloudy.

You will also see that moment when day turns to night, with grey tones and a glow of orange, on the Lone Dusk Sweatshirt, with a lone wolf against a twilight sky.

Where in Belgium?

Starlings do not choose the same roost every year, so there is no fixed list. These are the places where you have the best chance:

• Reed beds in marshland. Reed is a favourite roost: the birds sit there safely above the water. Think of marshy areas such as De Blankaart in Woumen (West Flanders).
• Rows of trees and shrubs. In 2022, according to VRT, more than one hundred thousand starlings roosted at Steenkerke (Veurne) in a few trees and shrubs. Every evening they chose the same spot, after first gathering in the fields.
• City parks and even railway stations. Sometimes starlings roost in city parks or under large canopies.

Tip: look up current sightings on waarnemingen.be or ask your local Natuurpunt branch. Anyone who knows a nearby roost also knows what time the birds arrive. For more beginner tips, read our article on birdwatching in Belgium.

Tips for watching a starling murmuration

• Arrive early. Be there at least half an hour before sunset, as the first groups come in early.
• Listen. The starling is a noisy bird. You often hear the chattering and the rustle of wings before you see the flock.
• Keep your distance and stay on the paths. That way you won't disturb the birds as they come in to land.
• Bring binoculars, but also look with the naked eye: the shape of the whole cloud is the best part.
• Dress warm. Standing still on a cold autumn evening goes through your clothes quickly. A thick layer such as the Mirror Lake Hoodie, with a mirror-smooth lake between the mountains, will keep you warm until the last starling has landed.

Surprising facts about the starling

• A true mimic. The starling can copy the calls of other birds, frogs and mammals perfectly. According to Natuurpunt, it mainly imitates the common buzzard, golden oriole, great spotted woodpecker and chicken. These imitations are learned, not innate.
• Black, but not dull. Up close, a starling has glossy black plumage with a purple, green and blue sheen. In winter it gets striking white spots. In the breeding season its beak is yellow.
• Fewer than before. The starling is still one of the most common birds in Belgium, but the number of breeding pairs in Flanders fell by about 36% between 2007 and 2018. At the Big Bird Weekend (Grote Vogelweekend) in 2025, the starling was back in the Flemish top 10 of most counted garden birds, in tenth place.

Fascinated by birds that travel in groups? Then also read our article on crane spotting in Belgium.

Frequently asked questions

What time do you see a starling murmuration?

From late afternoon and during dusk, just before sunset. Arrive in good time, as the show is over once all the birds have landed.

Why do starlings fly in a flock?

Mainly to protect themselves from birds of prey: in a large, fast-moving group it is hard to catch a single bird. The roost also serves to share information about good food spots.

How many starlings are in one flock?

That varies greatly. Often it is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of birds. At the largest roosts there can be more than a million, according to Natuurpunt.

For lovers of the evening sky

A cold evening, an orange sky and thousands of wings rippling through the air as one cloud: a moment like that is not easily forgotten. Discover all our bird designs in the Birds collection, such as the Dark Raven T-shirt with a watchful raven in deep black feathers. Shipping is free across the EU from €45 (otherwise €4.99).