Murmuration of starlings. Ostentation of peacocks. My favorite is murder of crows. Anyhow, they sound like murder. This column is about lesser known names of bird groups.
None are as familiar as covey of quail or flock of seagulls.
Maybe in time, and with more exposure, we will use these collective nouns as commonly as we use exaltation of larks, or unkindness of ravens. Since everyone thinks hawks are cool, let's start with them. Hawks are solitary creatures, but you can find collective names for them, too, if you look hard enough. Sandy and gullible Birds associated with sandy beaches seem to dominate the field of aggregate nomenclature. On your next trip down east, look for riots of laughing gulls, an almanac of Franklin's gulls, a Chevalier of little gulls, or a complex of Bonaparte's gulls.