Brighton starlings: Success as numbers up from last year

Thirty one groups of starlings moving from Brighton's West Pier to the Palace Pier added up to 11,148 birds, carefully counted from ultra-high definition video.

This compares with a figure of 8,237 last year.

Steve Geliot, who leads the Save Our Starlings Campaign with Lou McCurdy, said: “It is the first time we have seen such an increase in quite a few  years and goes against the long term trend of relentless declines that has been so sad to witness.

“If we all continue to love and support nature, then over a ten-year period we could well get back to the large murmurations we used to see in Brighton in the past.”

Last summer was a particularly good one for breeding starlings, so the flock includes a large number of juveniles.

Brighton’s peregrine falcons also bred successfully and their juveniles have also been learning to hunt, increasing the pressure on the starling flock.

But, the starlings are able to protecting their young by developing a new defensive flying behaviour.

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They gather at the West Pier, wait until it is getting dark, and then fly at top speed in large groups at wavetop height, going straight to roost at the Palace Pier.

Young peregrines have now learned to hunt them successfully but the numbers of starlings they catch is relatively low.

Starlings display between the West Pier and Brighton Palace Pier (Image: Steve Geliot)

Last year, the Save Our Starlings campaign donated 200 starling nest boxes to schools and other community projects in the city.

Steve, who said last year was "terrible" for the starlings, said: “It is a bit early in the day for the Save Our Starlings nest box programme to have made a big difference, but if more people are setting up nest boxes and feeding the birds, as well as providing clean water, then all of those acts of kindness can only be helping.”

Steve and Lou think that the council’s new city downland estate plan with its more nature-friendly farming practices will be a “huge boost” in the coming years.

“It is probably the best thing to happen for our starlings, and all our wild birds in 50 years,” they said.