Video: watch this fascinating starling murmuration over Burgess Hill

Steve Robards said he took the footage of the birds whirling in the sky in a huge flock above Royal George Road this week.

The RSPB called the phenomenon ‘a mass aerial stunt’ that involves ‘thousands of birds all swooping and diving in unison’.

An RSPB spokesperson said: “Grouping together offers safety in numbers – predators such as peregrine falcons find it hard to target one bird in the middle of a hypnotising flock of thousands. They also gather to keep warm at night and to exchange information, such as good feeding areas. They gather over their roosting site, and perform their wheeling stunts before they roost for the night.”

The RSPB added that autumn roosts usually start forming in November and more birds flock together as the weeks go on. They said that early evening just before dusk is the best time to see this.