Starlings, United Kingdom

Photograph by John O Neill , Your Shot

A flock of starlings takes flight at the moment of shutter release. These social birds were declining over the past few years in the U.K., but the numbers appear to be stabilizing. They can flock in such huge numbers that they have been known to break the boughs of trees while roosting.

What Makes This a Photo of the Day? I like how mundane elements a flock of birds, a white picket fence, even the barbed wire are transformed into something more by the photographer's readiness to capture the moment and by his careful framing. Alexa Keefe, Photo of the Day editor

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