Almost all animals gather in groups at some point in their lives. When they form groups, it’s mainly for safety purposes because they are less likely to be attacked by predators if they come in groups. Well, whatever their other reasons are for gathering together, there’s one thing common that happens when animals form into groups, and that is having unusual collective names.
Some of the most common names of animal groups that we often hear are, a herd of cows, a pack of wolves, and a school of fish. But what about animals like emus, hyenas, and others, what do you call their groups? There are some groups of animals that have bizarre names and they are rarely used even by scientists. However, no matter how unusual those names are, they still represent our own species’ collective creativity for linguistics. If you are wondering what these bizarre names are, here are some of the unusual names for different groups of animals.
Birds
There are so many species of birds that can be found all over the world and each of those species have collective names. Here are some of the unusual ones:
Bitterns: a sedge
Buzzards: a wake
Bobolinks: a chain
Coots: a cover
Cormorants: a gulp
Crows: a murder or horde
Dotterel: a trip
Doves: a dule or pitying (specific to turtle doves)
Ducks: a brace, team, flock (in flight), raft (on water), paddling or badling
Eagles: a convocation
Finches: a charm
Flamingos: a stand
Geese: a flock, a gaggle (if on the ground) or a skein (if in flight)
Grouse: a pack (in late season)
Hawks: a cast, a kettle (in flight) or a boil (two or more spiraling in the air)
Herons: a sedge or siege
Jays: a party or scold
Lapwings: a deceit
Larks: an exaltation
Mallards: a sord (in flight) or brace
Magpies: a tiding, gulp, murder or charm
Nightingales: a watch
Owls: a parliament
Parrots: a pandemonium or company
Partridge: a covey
Peafowl: an ostentation or muster
Penguins: a colony, muster, parcel or rookery
Pheasant: a nest, nide (a brood), nye or bouquet
Plovers: a congregation or wing (in flight)
Ptarmigans: a covey
Rooks: a building
Quail: a bevy or covey
Ravens: an unkindness
Snipe: a walk or wisp
Sparrows: a host
Starlings: a murmuration
Storks: a mustering
Swans: a bevy, game or wedge (in flight)
Teal: a spring
Turkeys: a rafter or gang
Woodcocks: a fall
Woodpeckers: a descent
Fish
In general, the collective name for a group of fish is a school of fish. But when we’re talking about specific species of fish, their collective names change as well. Here are some unusual ones:
Barracudas: a batter
Herring: an army
Sharks: a shiver
Trout: a hover
Mammals and Marsupials
There are lots of mammals and marsupials in the world and here are some species that have unusual collective names:
Apes: a shrewdness
Badgers: a cete
Bats: a cauldron
Bears: a sloth or sleuth
Buffalo: a gang or obstinacy
Cats: a clowder, pounce or glaring; for kittens: a kindle, litter or intrigue
Dogs: a litter (puppies), pack (wild) or cowardice (curs)
Donkeys: a pace
Elephants: a parade
Elk: a gang
Ferrets: a business
Fox: a leash, skulk or earth
Giraffes: a tower
Goats: a tribe or trip
Gorillas: a band
Hippopotamuses: a bloat or thunder
Hyenas: a cackle
Jaguars: a shadow
Kangaroos: a troop or mob
Lemurs: a conspiracy
Leopards: a leap
Lions: a pride or sawt
Martens: a richness
Moles: a labor
Monkeys: a troop or barrel
Mules: a pack, span or barren
Otters: a romp
Pigs: a drift, a drove, a sounder, a team, or a passel
Porcupines: a prickle
Porpoises: a pod, a school, a herd or a turmoil
Rabbits: a colony, a warren, a nest, down, husk or herd (domestic only)
Rhinoceroses: a crash
Squirrels: a dray or scurry
Tigers: an ambush or streak
Whales: a pod, gam or herd
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are the animals that do not possess a skeleton of bone either internal or external. Here are some of their unusual group names:
Bees: a grist, hive or swarm
Caterpillars: an army
Clams: a bed
Crabs: a consortium
Cockroaches: an intrusion
Flies: a business
Grasshoppers: a cloud
Jellyfish: a bloom, fluther or smack
Lobsters: a risk
Oysters: a bed
Snails: a hood
Squid: an audience
Reptiles and Amphibians
These cold blooded animals form groups as well and here are some of their unusual collective names:
Cobras: a quiver
Crocodiles: a bask
Frogs: an army
Toads: a knot
Turtles: a bale or nest
Salamanders: a maelstrom
Snakes and Vipers: a nest
These unusual animals group names are kind of difficult to remember, but it’s amazing to know that people have come up with these bizarre names to call different groups of animals. When you see a group of animals somewhere, try and see if you can tell what their group name is.