# Weird animal group names **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Created:** [April 9, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865 "2021-04-09T01:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hedgehog111](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/hedgehog111/32/24012_2.png) [@hedgehog111](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/hedgehog111)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/1 "2021-04-09T01:22:57Z")
Here are some good ones (sorry if this is alredy a topic but I could not find one) Alligators – a congregation Apes – a shrewdness Bats – a colony or cauldron Bears – a sleuth Butterflies - kaleidoscope, a swarm or a flutter Cats – a clowder Crows – a murder Donkeys – a pace Ducks - raft Ferrets – a business Gerbils – a horde Giraffes – a tower Gold finch - a cham Grackles - a plauge Hippopotamuses – a bloat Hyenas – a cackle Leopards – a leap Martens – a richness Owls and Magpies – a parliament Pandas - an embarrassment Porcupines – a prickle Raccoons – a nursery or gaze Rats – a mischief Rhinos – a crash Skunks – a surfeit Squirrels – a dray Toads – a knot Turtles – a bale Whales – a pod Please comment your favorites. ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/2 "2021-04-09T01:42:39Z")
group names for vultures are contextual: - in flight: a kettle - feeding on a carcass: a wake - in other situations (resting, roosting): a committee ---
**Author:** ![diegoalmendras](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/diegoalmendras/32/1473_2.png) [@diegoalmendras](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/diegoalmendras)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/3 "2021-04-09T02:35:31Z")
**A GROUP OF SQUID IS CALLED A _SQUAD_** 🦑 🦑 🦑 🦑 ---
**Author:** ![lettherebelight](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lettherebelight/32/20677_2.png) [@lettherebelight](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lettherebelight)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/4 "2021-04-09T02:40:54Z")
A gRouP oF CHickeNs iS caLLeD mY pEepS. 🐔 ---
**Author:** ![lia\_the\_naturalist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lia_the_naturalist/32/15907_2.png) [@lia\_the\_naturalist](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lia_the_naturalist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/5 "2021-04-09T04:31:03Z")
A group of giraffe standing still is called a Tower, while a group of giraffes walking is called a journey. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 7:59am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/6 "2021-04-09T07:59:58Z")
a group of iNatters is called a bioblitz… ---
**Author:** ![milodoingstuff](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/milodoingstuff/32/28544_2.png) [@milodoingstuff](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/milodoingstuff)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/7 "2021-04-09T14:56:19Z")
a sloth of bears a cauldron of bats _a cowardice of dogs_ a business of ferrets and my favourite: a smack of jellyfish ---
**Author:** ![fluffyinca](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/fluffyinca/32/10786_2.png) [@fluffyinca](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/fluffyinca)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/8 "2021-04-09T15:03:59Z")
Wow, I just learned a lot! The only one I know is that a flock of starlings is a **murmuration**. ---
**Author:** ![cmcheatle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/cmcheatle/32/37_2.png) [@cmcheatle](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/cmcheatle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/9 "2021-04-09T18:52:21Z")
A fling of sandpipers. Sounds like a 80’s new wave cover band ---
**Author:** ![marina\_gorbunova](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/marina_gorbunova/32/31454_2.png) [@marina\_gorbunova](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/marina_gorbunova)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/10 "2021-04-09T19:37:29Z")
Murmuration is a process other than just a group itself though. ---
**Author:** ![jnstuart](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jnstuart/32/1623_2.png) [@jnstuart](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jnstuart)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/11 "2021-04-09T20:08:06Z")
I’ve always wondered how such a diversity of different English-language names for groups of animals came about. I suspect they didn’t arise all at once and most of them are no longer used or recognized by English speakers today. But what was the rationale for their invention and use in the first place (e.g., why a specific name for a group of gerbils)? Many sound like names a poet or prose writer would come up with. ---
**Author:** ![lia\_the\_naturalist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lia_the_naturalist/32/15907_2.png) [@lia\_the\_naturalist](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lia_the_naturalist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/12 "2021-04-09T20:47:27Z")
> [@milodoingstuff](#): > > a business of ferrets Love that! ---
**Author:** ![screedius](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/screedius/32/7955_2.png) [@screedius](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/screedius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/13 "2021-04-09T22:13:34Z")
You already mentioned a murder of crows. For ravens, its an ‘unkindness’ or a ‘conspiracy’. I like corvids though, so I don’t particularly like those names. I’d propose a ‘conversation’ of crows instead and perhaps a ‘ruffle’ of ravens. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/14 "2021-04-09T23:39:37Z")
Terms of venery: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_animal\_names](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names) ---
**Author:** ![eraskin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/eraskin/32/425_2.png) [@eraskin](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/eraskin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/16 "2021-04-10T23:21:03Z")
> [@milodoingstuff](#): > > and my favourite: a smack of jellyfish This has always been my favorite as well. ---
**Author:** ![dloarie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dloarie/32/9353_2.png) [@dloarie](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dloarie)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/17 "2021-04-11T21:43:33Z")
It’s always fun to read these lists, but you must remember that many of them are the creation of a single poet or writer who was trying to conjure up an image with a phrase that had never been used previously. It’s not like the origin is “lost in folklore.” ---
**Author:** ![rod\_mclatchy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/rod_mclatchy/32/13265_2.png) [@rod\_mclatchy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/rod_mclatchy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 1:40am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/18 "2021-04-12T01:40:05Z")
Since bushtits doesn’t have an official one, I propose a riffraff of bushtits ![This these little hoodlems continually have been ransacking the local feeders!](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/6/8/686b0d4a1add12ae7f6894269a5b9ff20eb0caf0.jpeg) This these little hoodlems continually have been ransacking the local feeders! ---
**Author:** ![jasonhernandez74](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jasonhernandez74/32/33615_2.png) [@jasonhernandez74](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jasonhernandez74)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/19 "2021-04-12T02:17:06Z")
> [@jnstuart](#): > > Many sound like names a poet or prose writer would come up with. C.S. Lewis did indeed portray a Parliament of Owls in _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/20 "2021-04-12T14:29:44Z")
> [@jnstuart](#): > > Many sound like names a poet or prose writer would come up with. I think the early ones were hunting terms, but poets and writers took up their use and extended the range of names in a rather wanton fashion… ---
**Author:** ![rupertclayton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/rupertclayton/32/2745_2.png) [@rupertclayton](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/rupertclayton)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865/21 "2021-04-12T17:52:33Z")
My wife has her own collective noun for 80’s new wave bands: a flock of haircuts. [Next page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/weird-animal-group-names/21865.md?page=2)