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 …

[image] milodoingstuff: and my favourite: a smack of jellyfish This has always been my favorite as well.

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.”

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!] This these little hoodlems continually have been ransacking the local feeders!

[image] 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.

[image] 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…

[image] rod_mclatchy: Since bushtits doesn’t have an official one, I propose a riffraff of bushtits Good idea!

[image] screedius: 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. @screedius - I went the other way and am trying to troll other non nature folks with “niche” t-shirts - some of my ex…

[image] rod_mclatchy: Since bushtits doesn’t have an official one, I propose a riffraff of bushtits I agree and second (rather third) your suggestion :-)

A group of penguins in the water is called a raft but on land they’re called a waddle! Other names for a group of penguins include rookery, colony, and huddle.

Weird animal group names

Nature Talk

rupertclayton April 12, 2021, 5:52pm 21

My wife has her own collective noun for 80’s new wave bands: a flock of haircuts.

Topic		Replies	Views
Speaking collectively Nature Talk	77	1932	October 14, 2022
Silly names that are actually in use for animals Nature Talk common-names , silliness	65	75657	April 24, 2020
Cute and silly animal nicknames Nature Talk silliness	13	4252	June 22, 2022
What are some nature related nicknames you’ve come up with? Nature Talk question , fun , common-names	44	15312	September 11, 2022
Great, funny, or weird species names in other languages Nature Talk	38	15700	October 18, 2020

Weird animal group names

Related topics