21 October 2026

At school, we learnt a whole host of collective nouns taken from that redoubtable text book, ‘First Aid in English’. There are so many, the book was not exhaustive. Some of the most interesting collective nouns are associated with birds.

There is the murder of crows, the charm of goldfinches, the mischief of magpies and the congress of eagles. The wise owl collects as a parliament. The flamingos form a flamboyance, unsurprisingly. The starlings are collectively called a murmuration.

It comes from the verb  ‘to murmur’ and refers to the sound which the murmuration makes when it swoops in and out of the sky in these marvellous patterns. They sport great artistry and celebrate what it means to collaborate and co-operate.

According to Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize Winner, the starlings react to the falcon by getting closer to each other. Apparently, they are much closer at the edges of the murmuration than in the centre. No one wants to be singled out.

The starlings are like cars in the sense that each starling is much closer to the starlings which are flying by its side than the starlings which are flying immediately in front and immediately behind. The changes in direction, the swooping turns, are initiated by a small group at one side of the murmuration.

It is all built upon good communication and collaboration. Everyone plays their part for the benefit of the whole. The pattern which they display is mesmerising in its collective artistry. It is what we aspire to in the church and its quest for unity – this mesmerising flight of beauty and harmony.