when yellow-headed blackbirds fell from the sky

Cindy Botha

CN: animal death

it swept in      around dawn
iron filings tugged      into a sibilance
of wings
because a murmuration
is a holding pattern      constantly evolving
a selfish herd effect

                   when a peregrine falcon      stalked
            the edges
                and crashed it      in a vortex      of wings
                               a thousand comets
               heads blazing      feathers      like charcoal
           air teased
                                   with fire      with ash
             because in the cool      blue
                 morning      sometimes miracles      fail

and we found them      in the gutter
before breakfast
like dropped gloves
fascinators      after a night
on the town     
the small smashed apparatus      of flight
a ferrous whiff
and what had vanished
was all sense      of cohesion

The Science

A video (CN: animal death) of this event, which took place in Cuauhtémoc, Mexico in February 2022, sparked a frenzy of speculation as to the cause – air pollution, poison, electrocution, a mistake by the lead bird, even 5G technology. Ornithologists agreed a peregrine falcon or hawk likely attacked the flock. There is no lead bird in a murmuration – changes in direction are instigated by ‘selfish herd behaviour’ in which individuals constantly move towards the centre for safety. In addition, simulations of murmuration flight suggest that each bird keeps track of seven of its closest neighbours and adjusts accordingly, creating a wave of movement through the entire flock. A sudden predator attack close to the ground or structures can thus be catastrophic.

The Poet

Cindy Botha was born and raised in Africa and now lives in New Zealand. She began writing to try and make sense of the world while caring for her mother through dementia. Her poetry is published in journals and anthologies in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Next poem: Yella Yorlin’ (emberiza citronella) by Jude Anderson