Pages

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Answer: A Murder.

Question: What do you call a flock crows?
 

You may have heard of that one before, or a Parliament of Owls is another one. But there are lots more. Some are amusing, like a Troop of Turkeys, some sweet, like a Charm of Goldfinches, and some perfectly appropriate, like a Worm of Robins.

Do you know any more?

Meanwhile, I'm making progress on  two fronts, both with PEACE & FORGIVENESS (current wip) and my revision of NO REST (my scifi that I wrote last year), and I have a new CP reading the latter. I love finding new critique partners :)

How about you? Making progress? Know any other terms for groups of birds? I'll come back later with some more...after I ask my son!

ps did I mention I have a book coming out this month?! I put a piccie up on my sidebar in case you want to have a gander...

41 comments:

  1. Ohhh, thanks for this - I have written a story about various animals, and turkeys are amongst them. I knew about baby turkeys being poults, but "troop of turkeys" is sooo appropriate for one part of one of the books in particular. :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. A gaggle of geese?
    Still trying to finish my first draft before the Challenge begins!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome you have a new critique partner. I'm just joining a new group. So excited.

    Let me know if you want me to shout out about your book in my follower news.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How about an unkindness of ravens?
    Who comes up with these? What is the origin of them, I wonder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure who comes up with them but birds have more than one collective name.

      Delete
  5. A murder of crows is so poetic. And, yeah, making progress on my revisions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I concur - and glad you're making progress :)

      Delete
  6. I can't think of any, but glad that you're making progress. And super duper exciting to hear your book is coming out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to make you your favorite bake or dessert, to celebrate but I know it would not be fresh by time you got it.

      Delete
  7. In ERAGON books, the writer is calling a flock of dragons a thunder of dragons which I liked a lot.... probably the only thing I liked in that boredomfest of a saga :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Strangely, that series never interested me.

      Delete
  8. Geese are called a gaggle when they are not flying.

    Geese are called a skein when they are flying.

    How strange is that???

    ReplyDelete
  9. I always loved the term a Murder of Crows!

    ReplyDelete
  10. A murder of crows is amazing - I'd never heard that one!! How wonderfully creepy. And a parliament of owls always makes me think of CS Lewis, and the Silver Chair... oh, and yes, the book cover is AWESOME :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Murder of Crows is one of the few I knew - along with a Parliament of Owls for the same reason :)

      Delete
  11. How do you find your CP's?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've found them all on-line: blogging mostly. My latest made a request for readers on his blog and through Alex's and I spoke up.

      Delete
  12. So, I have some more...

    A Grove of Tree Sparrows (So many sound so perfect! Who the heck came up with them all?)
    An Aerie of Eagles (The Eagles Aerie blog makes even MORE sense to me now)
    A Vortex of Vultures (love this one, too)
    A Banditry of Chickadees (they have a black mask, get it? Bandits... masks...)
    and a Tournament of Sparrows (we've had quite the tournament at our feeder this winter I can tell you!)

    Lastly, I mentioned earlier hat there is more than a single collective name for birds. For example, a flock of Blue Jays can be referred to as a Bard, a Scold, or a Party. My son and I thought a Scold was most appropriate though a Party comes in a close second.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My cats just like to watch birds. Cat fun? I like the parliament of owls thing. Glad you're making progress. Just got a book out, now I'm writing the next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol, I'm almost always working on the next one.

      Delete
  14. All I know is gaggle of geese. These are fun though! Congratulations on your book!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sending you all good wishes for your new book!
    I know a squadron of pelicans and a colony of gulls.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yes, new CPs are a very good thing! I'm fresh out of bird group names, but I will tell you that a flock of parakeets is deafening!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet they are! One or two can be pretty loud by themselves!

      Delete
  17. An Exaltation of larks? That and a murder of crows are my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nope, the only writing I've been doing lately is papers. (Four papers due over two weeks. Whew! Glad that's done.)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Clever and fun! Thanks for this.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Aw, Alex took my favorite - a gaggle of geese. I'm in editing mode right now. The "looking for overused words and phrases" part. Boring but has to be done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah yes, I'm familiar with that stage of editing and it IS boring.

      Delete
  21. I think my favorite is "a cauldron of bats." It fits so well!
    I will be checking out your book. Congrats on that!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi, Marcy. *waves* It's been too long. I hope you and yours are well. I just emerged from writer's cave, in case you wondered where I had disappeared to. Writer's, right? Where else would we be? *laughs*
    Thanks for sharing this. My latest work in progress has a heavy population of crows and this has inspired me to dig a bit deeper in the research for that second draft. *high fives*
    Enjoy the last of the weekend and have a great week, my friend!

    -Jimmy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love crows - good luck with that second draft and glad you could stop by :)

      Delete

If you're interested in my blog I'm interested in your comments.