World News for Students of English

18-10-2016 15:00

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

Hundreds of thousands of birds swirled into formations against the crisp autumn sky, and attracted quite a crowd of spectators. When the starlings tried to land, they performed a balletic shaping that blocks the view of the sky leading to its rather appropriate nickname, Black Sun, which is the biggest Danish nature event.

From the end of September to the beginning of October, people can see up to a million birds landing in a chosen spot at sunset and putting up a show which attracts around a hundred thousand people each year.

Difficult words: starling (a small songbird), flock (come together), marsh (an area of low-lying land which is flooded in wet seasons), swirl (move in a twisting or spiralling pattern), crisp (cold, dry and clear), balletic (ballet-like).

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