murmuration

Definitions

1. An act or instance of murmuring.
   countable, uncountable
2. A flock of starlings, in particular when swarming in swirling patterns.
   collective, countable, uncountable
3. An emergent order in a multi-agent social system.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“"Oh! I wasted most of my morning crawling to a murmuration of starlings, which I foolishly mistook for congregation of plover."”

“The same dynamics can be seen in starlings: On clear winter evenings, murmurations of the tiny blackish birds gather in Rome’s sunset skies, wheeling about like⟳ rustling cloth.”

“Professor Anne Goodenough, an applied ecologist at the University of Gloucestershire who led the research⟳, said: ‘It appears murmuration has become⟳ the norm – a general way for the starlings to stay⟳ safe from predators.’”

CEFR level