Starlings and schooling fish

Boids / Starling Murmuration

Watch flocking patterns emerge and evolve over time. Start with a quiet preset, then explore how small local interactions shape the movement of the group.

Watch simple rules become flock behaviour

Each bird reacts only to nearby neighbours. Shared direction, togetherness, and personal space become a larger flocking pattern.

What to watch: clusters form, stretch, split, and rejoin as local choices move through the flock.

Explanatory notes

Alignment steers each boid toward the average heading of nearby flockmates.
Cohesion draws boids toward the local centre of mass.
Separation pushes agents away when neighbours get too close.
Predator pressure adds a moving local risk zone, so nearby boids steer away while distant boids keep flocking normally.

Observe

Local alignment, cohesion, and separation rules create emergent flocking without a central controller.

Controls

Preset

Predator mode

Explore the rules

Each bird follows three nearby cues. Together, they create the larger motion you see.

Match direction: Turn gently toward nearby headings.
Stay together: Drift back toward the local group.
Avoid crowding: Leave enough room for neighbours.
Predator mode: Adds one moving pressure point so nearby birds make space.

Visual overlays

Reveal sensing and motion cues only when you want a more analytical view.

Neighbour sight radius Heading arrows Nearby-neighbour links

Advanced tuning

Match direction1 How strongly each bird turns to match nearby headings. Stay together0.8 How strongly each bird moves toward the local group centre. Avoid crowding1.4 How strongly birds make room when neighbours are too close. Flock size120 More birds make denser patterns but can feel busier on small screens. Cruising speed3.1 The target movement speed for each bird. Neighbour sight78 How far each bird looks for flockmates to react to.

Predator tuning

Influence range120 How close the marker must be before the flock makes room. Predator speed2.15 A slower pace keeps the disruption easier to read.

Applications

Swarm robotics
Crowd simulation
Drone coordination
Distributed sensing