Murmuration. Murder. Silence.
What could be more poetical?

A group of flying owls is called a silence.
(photo by Cloudtail the Snow Leopard)

Hi, gang. De here (aka WhimsyGizmo). Today I want us to draw our poetic inspiration from the whimsical, musical, magical names given to groups of birds. Check out these incredibly poetic words for gatherings of specific birds, as given by the Baltimore Bird Club:

A bevy of quail
A bouquet of pheasants [when flushed]
A brood of hens
A cast of hawks [or falcons]
A colony of penguins
A congregation of plovers
A deceit of lapwings
A descent of woodpeckers
An exaltation of larks
A fall of woodcocks
A flight of swallows [or doves, goshawks, or cormorants]
A gaggle of geese [wild or domesticated]
A host of sparrows
A kettle of hawks [riding a thermal]
A murmuration of starlings
A murder of crows
A muster of storks
An ostentation of peacocks
A paddling of ducks [on the water]
A parliament of owls
A raft of ducks
A siege of herons
A skein of geese [in flight]
A tidings of magpies
An unkindness of ravens
A wisp of snipe

A group of hummingbirds is called a charm.
photo by my hubby, Justin Jackson

Use one (or more) of these words to inspire your poem, or have fun researching further to find one of your own, here or here, or using this awesome comprehensive list, here.

Or use a whole flock of bird words as a wordlist to create your poem. You can use your word(s) in a birdy way, or better yet, don’t. Just use the word(s) as a kickoff to let creativity take flight.

Ready to let your prose take to the skies like a pose of herons, or an echo of mockingbirds? Here’s the call of the wild:

– Write your bird-word poem, and post it to your blog.
– Link the direct URL up to Mr. Linky, and include a link back here to dVerse
– Flit, fly, follow your way around to read and comment on the work of fellow poets, in the spirit of community.
– Tweet away: share on social media if you’d like, with the hashtag #dversepoets

(By the way, other animal group names are big fun, too.)

Now, what shall we call a flock of poets? A phrase? A quiver?
Or perhaps we are a cry of loons. Discuss, in the comments below.