Starlings (Sturnidae), Nicodemus National Historic Site, 2014.

As summer becomes fall and fall becomes winter, Kansas witnesses one of the most impressive natural dramas: birds migrating south to warmer climates. These starlings, introduced to North America in the 1890s, are remarkably adaptive birds and have been able to swell in numbers over 150 million. Masses of starlings turn fields black and their trills can be heard for miles. Perhaps the most conspicuous and impressive behavior are their murmurations; huge flocks will morph and swirl overhead, appearing to think with one mind.