starlings are a small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds from the family sturnidae. they exist globally and are found traveling together in large groups. there are many different species of starlings and they come in various different sizes, colors, and shapes. their feathers (plumage) can drastically differ from flat brown tones to vibrant iridescent. no singular physical feature distinguishes them from other types of perching birds.

what they are known for, though, are for their murmurations.

a murmuration describes both the flocking of starlings, as well as their consequentially large flight formations. these flocks of starlings consist of a few hundred to thousands of starlings flying in union to create a flowing and intricate swirling patterns in the sky. these murmurations occur to either evade or to threaten a potential/imminent predator. the larger the number of starlings in a flock participating in a murmuration, the quicker they're able to gather incoming data regarding a threat and respond efficiently to it. there is no one lead bird(s) that lead the murmurations, but rather, each starling has a fixed number of other starlings in its immediate vicinity that it coordinates and responds with.​​​​​​​

starlings and their murmurations connect with this new platform in that it pushes the idea that big data can, and is, visually beautiful. each starling represents a data point that is connected to the other data points within the system to create a bigger picture of something that is chasing after a prediction of better user understanding.

from the data perspective, the platform and the user is creating a unique and individualized approach to communicating with their intended recipient. this can only be done with multiple data points which would be constantly gathered. the continually gathered data points would lead to better prediction, though the approach will constantly be in flux. this flux and constant readjusting the data points can be visually represented in a bayesian probability graph.