Photo

Xavi Bou - Ornitographies

  • a massive floc of birds around a tree
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    01
    Last December, Xavi Bou captured starling murmurations in northern Spain for his continuing series *Ornitographies.* 
  • a massive flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    02
    As Bou photographed the birds each evening, a falcon would inevitably show up and attack the flock. 
  • a massive flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    03
    Murmurations can contain millions of birds. 
  • a large flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    04
    Murmurations are so named because of the low, fluttering sounds the birds' wings make.  
  • a large flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    05
    The birds move in astounding unison, with each mimicking the movements of six or seven neighbors. 
  • a large flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    06
    Bou filmed the birds at sunset, as they returned to the marsh to roost after feeding in nearby fields. 
  • a large flock of starlings
    Photograph: Xavi Bou
    07
    “I'm obsessed with visualizing the beauty of natural movement,” Bou says. 
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