Lockdown Lift: Brighton's Starling spectacle

  • Video report by ITV Meridian's Malcolm Shaw

One of the finest wildlife spectacles can be found at Brighton Palace Pier in Sussex.

Thousands of Starlings have been seen performing extraordinary murmurations just after dusk.

Spectators lined the seafront to watch this year's impressive displays.

Thousands of Starlings have been seen performing murmurations in Brighton. Credit: ITV Meridian

The birds roost beneath the pier and gather to fly shortly after dusk.

Mike Russell, Sussex Ornithological Society says the murmurations are used by the birds as a form of protection.

He said: "The sudden movements they make mean it's harder for predators to pick out an individual."

  • Mike Russell, Sussex Ornithological Society:

In winter, the birds fly together to look for somewhere warm for them to roost.

Mike compared the sight of the murmurations to "wildlife programmes of migrating wildebeest."