A Cadre of Crows

This morning I awoke to a tremendous Commotion in the wood behind our house. The Crows were in a fit Cawing like Crazy. I Couldn't tell what they were Cackling about, but it woke me from a nice slumber. Gerald awoke (probably because I was saying, "Can you hear that? Can you hear that?") to the Clatter as well.

Gerald said the Crows are in a Rally. Anyway this Caused me to want to search for the different words we use to describe a gathering of birds. If it had been a Rousing Racket of Ravens, I could have called them a Rally of Ravens. Some of my favorite are italized below. We have a:

cadre of crows (I made up that one)
rally of ravens (ditto)
gaggle of geese
kettle of hawks
unkindness or murder of ravens
murder or horde of crows (descriptive terms if you've ever heard them gather)
covey of quail
sedge of bitterns
chain of bobolinks
wake of buzzards
convocation or congregation of eagles (elegant terms)
mob of emus (doesn't that sound very Aussie?)
host or knot of sparrows
stand or flamboyance of flamingos (the latter is exceedingly descriptive)
charm of goldfinches (pretty)
colony of gulls (very true if you've seen them on a beach)
tittering, tiding, gulp, murder, or charm of magpies

Lots more terms of animals can be found at Terms for Groups of Animals, Birds, & Insects
Give it a try... make up a term for a gathering of your favorite bird, animal, or insect.

PS One funny one I noticed was EXTREMELY descriptive: an intrusion of cockroaches!