Are Aberystwyth’s beloved starlings causing issues at the Old College development?

Every autumn residents keep their eyes on the skies awaiting the return of the famous starlings.

This week they returned from north and eastern Europe to winter in the town - but this time, residents noticed a change.

The starlings as always danced their evening dance to the colours of sunset, but this time used the scaffolding of the Old College development as a perch, with some suggesting they were roosting there overnight.

Eager photographers including Clare Cottage captured incredible shots of the noisy birds at golden hour, seeming to enjoy their vantage from the university development - a project to renovate the 1800s college, transforming it into new student and public facilities.

Ben Porter, a local ecologist specialising in birds, explained that the birds seem to be using the scaffolding as a brief pre-roost gathering site - meaning they don’t sleep there overnight.

The birds enjoying the sunset on the Old College scaffolding. Photo: Clare Cottage
The birds enjoying the sunset on the Old College scaffolding. Photo: Clare Cottage (Clare Cottage)

Starlings are famous for their murmurations - dances that occur at sunset over the winter months, as UK resident starlings are joined by their European siblings to create incredible shapes made of thousands of birds.

Scientists believe the shapes confuse birds of prey, making it harder to catch individual birds, similarly to schools of fish.

They dance - or murmurate - until the birds decide the coast is clear and groups peel off to roost for the night, mostly underneath the Aberystwyth pier.

Ben explained: “The starlings are already used to using manmade features to roost on for their night-time roost site (the pier), which is largely composed of a lattice of metal bars and structures, similar to the scaffolding.

The birds also took a rest on the crane above the Old College development. Photo: Clare Cottage
The birds also took a rest on the crane above the Old College development. Photo: Clare Cottage (Clare Cottage)

“Starlings often gather at a site a little way away from their roosting site just before heading in at dusk - they seem to be using the scaffolding for this purpose: a sort of pre-roost gathering site before heading under the pier.

“They don’t seem to be actually roosting on the scaffolding itself.

“I don't believe this would cause any disruption to the renovation works there, as they're only using the scaffolding for a brief period before going under the pier, and even this short period tends to be just before sunset when no one is working on the scaffolding.”

A spokesperson for Aberystwyth University confirmed the birds aren’t roosting there overnight, but that “the situation will continue to be monitored closely”.

The University reported that the birds were not roosting on the scaffolding overnight and were still using the metal structures underneath the Aberystwyth pier. Photo: Clare Cottage
The University reported that the birds were not roosting on the scaffolding overnight and were still using the metal structures underneath the Aberystwyth pier. Photo: Clare Cottage (Clare Cottage)

Despite their impressive gatherings across the winter months in the UK, these birds are actually on the Red List for Conservation Concern, with their numbers having dropped dramatically since the 1980s.

Ben said: “There was around a 60 per cent decrease in breeding populations between 1995-2023.

“The wintering flocks are composed of birds from all across Europe, and so represent quite a different source of birds.

“As the UK is an important wintering area for birds from across Europe, we have a duty to protect and ensure the flocks have good foraging opportunities and can use roosting sites with minimal disturbance (although they do often choose some interesting areas to roost, like the pier!)”