Bizarre bird behaviour

From time to time we all observe some form of bizarre behaviour exhibited by animals. Birds are no exception.

A few minutes ago I was enjoying an afternoon cuppa on the back veranda. I was in the lovely winter sun and out of the biting cold wind. Very relaxing.

As I sat there a small flock of about a dozen Common Starlings flew rapidly over head and then circled the garden several times before suddenly diving into a tree near the road which passes our little block of land. One of the flock was giving a strange call-hard to describe and one I’d not heard before from a Starling’s considerable repertoire.   Very strange.

I couldn’t determine why they had behaved in this way. I saw and heard no raptors sneaking around. This is the usual disquieting event for starlings and honeyeaters and other garden birds. I still have no idea why they were flying like that.

Common Starling