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"Black Sun" appears in Denmark as starlings migrate

WADDEN SEA NATIONAL PARK, DENMARK — The mesmerizing sight of hundreds of thousands of migrating starlings might look like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" -- but their annual stop in Denmark has become a major tourist attraction.

Nature expert Iver Gram describes the phenomenon:  "Black Sun is the biggest Danish nature event. It is when the starlings are going down in the vegetation to sleep and they'll be attacked by the hawk and they make marvelous formations."

Every year in autumn, hundreds of thousands of migrating starlings gather on the marshes of the Wadden Sea National Park in Denmark, looking for rest and food on their way south for the winter.

Fellow nature expert Anja Kjolby says, "Right now in the highlight from end of September to the beginning of October, we have around 800,000 starlings in one 'sleep-over' - right here."

When the birds attempt landing, they perform aerial ballets and formations to avoid or counter attack birds of prey trying to enter the flock.

These moving formations can block the view to the sky and that is why they're called the "Black Sun."

Gram says, "It is the birds of prey that create the black sun, because the marvelous formations and the chains and forms is the result of an attack of a hawk. So when the birds of prey are coming in, we see the biggest black sun."

Kjolby agrees and has seen many other bird watchers reactions.  "The typical reaction is: This is really wonderful. Or 'WOW'. I hear so many 'wow's every night out here in the seasons."

Every evening, up to a million birds can be seen landing in a chosen spot at sunset.  Around 100,000 visitors come to the national park every year to experience the birds' performance.

After eating and resting, the birds will all rise at once and head south before returning in the spring.