Where Did All The Starlings Go?

“Where did all the starlings go?”

This was the question Lagan rower Dawn Patterson brought to one of Wild Belfast’s first meetings after post-Covid normality resumed in the spring of 2022. It was also our first indication that, during lockdown, changes had been made to Belfast’s urban environment that had driven the city’s much-loved starling murmuration away.

A few days later, a few of us went to check the state of the murmuration for ourselves. Sure enough, the murmuration—whose numbers had previously been in the thousands—was now reduced to just dozens. But when had this catastrophic loss occurred? Lockdown had stretched, give or take, for two years and while we couldn’t immediately tell what changes had caused this, we knew how to find out.

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The collapse of the murmuration

Our approach was two-pronged. First, we trawled social media for any photos or videos of the Albert Bridge murmuration to try and pinpoint when the numbers began to decline. Second, we reviewed planning applications in the vicinity of the bridge that coincided with the murmuration’s disappearance.

We identified two developments that aligned with the collapse of the murmuration in the winter of 2020/21. One was the installation of new LEDs into the old lanterns on Albert Bridge in early 2020. The other was the completion of a public realm space called “Ravenhill Rest” in early 2021, which included strip lighting and lighting columns.

Below, Imogen Donegan, painted a junction box for Belfast City Council through Daisy Chain (2024) to celebrate the return of the starling murmuration. It features the Albert bridge, Cave Hill and the Sirocco Chimney across the Lagan. 

"It’s lit up like Las Vegas,” one attendee remarked—and it truly was.

What we had established was correlation, not causation. Could we guarantee that the decline wasn’t simply due to an unusually warm winter? Starlings roost together in large numbers in winter to conserve heat. Could we rule out that this wasn’t the cause? No. So we sat on our findings until the winter of 2022/23 when we returned to the Albert Bridge to monitor the murmuration. Unfortunately, it was not a pretty picture. The light pollution in the area was chronic. “It’s lit up like Las Vegas,” one attendee remarked—and it truly was.

This led us to an enlightening discovery: although light pollution is known to have a chronic and pervasive impact on both people and biodiversity, no cumulative lighting assessments are currently required as part of planning applications.

By this point, it could have been as much as three years since the starlings had properly murmurated at Albert Bridge. Starlings typically live for around five years in the wild, and generational memory of the roost site was at risk of being lost. We decided it was time for conservation triage. So in early 2023, we reached out to the public bodies involved in the developments and the management of the bridge itself, and also went to the press to raise awareness. But was there any will to help?

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On a clear but nippy summer’s day, we took to the River Lagan

Lagan Weir were the first to respond. They invited us down to view the lighting on the bridge with them. While not responsible for either of the new developments we suspected were causing the disturbance, they were keen to see what they could do. So, on a clear but nippy summer’s day, we took to the River Lagan to discuss the lighting near the bridge. Those decorative lights on the side of the bridge? “Sure, we’ll add a red filter.” The lights underneath? “We’ll install a manual switch and only turn them on when needed.” Next came the Department for Communities, who pledged to keep the lights off at the new Ravenhill Rest development. And finally, in autumn 2023, the Department for Infrastructure installed opaque light shields to prevent light spill below the bridge onto the roost site.

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The fight to keep the murmuration alive continues

It was a nerve-wracking wait to see if the murmuration would return. Had the generational memory persisted? Or had the birds ultimately deserted the site for another reason?

In November 2023, we had our answer: thousands of starlings returned to the skies and girders of Albert Bridge once more.

But the fight to keep the murmuration alive continues. Year by year, the numbers dwindle—not now because of light pollution, but because of changes we are making in our countryside, parks, and gardens. Pesticides kill off the starlings’ prey, and paving over lawns removes vital foraging habitat. Whether they will continue to adorn our city and skies depends on the choices we make, as well as those made by our public bodies.