Plight of Flight

This project explores the decline of starlings and their fight for redemption as they swirl about the evening sky on the outskirts of suburbia.  Once, our constant companion pestering, following and surrounding us during our daily routines, starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) have rapidly declined since the 1970’s, putting this once winged gang of the garden at ‘red’ UK conservation status. Now, stuffed starling specimens, hidden in museum displays and archives, are a more common occurrence than the reality that once flocked and filled our skies.

In search of a murmuration, I took frequent trips to the edge of Somerset, between November 2019 and March 2020. Walking through marshlands, with a patchwork of reeds and trees sculpted in the background, I waited alongside a crowd of starling seekers for the murmuration to begin. Heads turned, watching the swooping and swirling spectacle above us, before the starlings’ dived to roost in the reeds. This travelling show, that has closed its doors to the city, is a symbol of not just the beauty of nature, but a rallying call to appreciate and nurture the wildlife that surrounds us.