Collective nouns and terms for groups of animals other groups including birds.

Ever wondered what the collective
noun is for various groups of animals, birds or insects? Here are some of
the obvious and not so obvious.
I would like to point out that these terms have not been officially
“authenticated”.

TERMS FOR GROUPS OF
ANIMALS, BIRDS AND INSECTS

ANIMAL/SPECIES

COLLECTIVE NOUN/TERM

ANTELOPES

A
HERD
of antelopes.

ANTS

A
COLONY of ants.

Melissa Bee

An
ARMY
of ants.

A
STATE
or SWARM of
ants.

APES

A SHREWDNESS
of apes

ASSES

A HERD or
PACE
of asses

A
DROVE
of asses.

BABOONS

A
TROOP
of baboons

Michael
Haberl

A
FLANGE of baboons

Judith Rich

A CONGRESS
of baboons.

John Provost

BACTERIA

A
COLONY
of bacteria.Micribiologists call groups of bacteria
COLONIES. A culture would consist of many colonies.

Ron Orts

A
CULTURE
of bacteria.

Chris Moffatt

BADGERS

A CETE of badgers

BARRACUDAS

A
BATTERY
of barracudas.

BASS

A
SHOAL
of bass.

Melissa Bee.

BATS

A
COLONY
of bats.

Melissa Bee.

A CLOUD
of bats.

Keith Harris

BEARS

A SLOTH or
SLEUTH
of bears

BEAVERS

A
COLONY
of beavers.A FAMILY
of beavers.

BEES

A GRIST, HIVE, SWARM, DRIFT or BIKE
of bees

A
CLUSTER, ERST
or NEST of bees.

BIRDS

A FLOCK, FLIGHT, or PARCEL
of birds.
A POD of
birds (small flock)
A VOLARY of
birds (in an aviary)
A BRACE = a
pair of gamebirds or waterfowl *

* Melissa Bee.

A
DISSIMULATION
of birds.

Phillip Joss

BISON

A
HERD
of bison.

BITTERNS

A
SEDGE
of bitterns.

Melissa Bee.

BOAR (WILD)

A SOUNDER or
SINGULAR
of wild boar

BOBOLINKS

A
CHAIN
of bobolinks (whatever they might be!!)

Melissa Bee.

Just in case there is anyone else out
there who, like me, doesn’t know what a Bobolink is I have been
reliably informed by Amelia B., that it
is a small bird. The male is black and white with a yellow cap
on his head and the female is golden brown with brown markings.

Another name for a bobolink is a
whippoorwill***
(their call sounds a little like someone saying the word
whippoorwill).

Thanks to
Eric Pittenger for this additional information.

***
Apparently this is not the case.

Clarice
Olle has been kind enough to point out that the above is in fact
incorrect.

A bob-o-link (short for Robert
of Lincoln) is NOT the same bird as a whippoorwill.

John Canepa as
also provided the following information:

Bobolinks and whippoorwills
are two different birds. The bobolink is a small-medium size bird
dwelling in open fields where it makes its nest on the ground and has
one of the most amazing and hysterical songs ever. The whippoorwill
is a medium size bird, active at night, with plumage so as that you
practically step on them as they rest on the forest floor. An
interesting note about the whippoorwill is that they will come to rest
in a circle, with their tails all facing in so that they can be
protected from danger.

Susan
Vanderveen also confirms – I respectively submit
the information that a Bobolink and Whip-poor-will are not two terms for
one bird. They are two very distinct species.

BUCK

A
BRACE OR CLASH of bucks.

Michael Haberl

I was looking at your
wonderful list of animal collectives for my website (everbosity.wordpress.com)
and came across the use of “brace”
several times, firstly under birds. A brace is a pair of anything and
not specifically related to any animal. A player can score a brace
of goals in a football match for example. I wouldn’t consider it a
collective title.

Tench
Ringgold

BUDGERIGARS

A
CHATTER
of budgerigars.

BUFFALO

A HERD, TROUP, GANG or OBSTINACY
of buffalo

BULLOCKS

A
DROVE
of bullocks.

BUTTERFLIES

A
SWARM
or RABBLE of butterflies.A
KALEIDOSCOPE
of butterflies.

Christina Gonzales

A
FLUTTER
of butterflies.

Priscilla Weikert

A RAINBOW
of butterflies.

Amy Black

BUZZARDS

A
WAKE
of buzzards.

Melissa Bee

CAMELS

A
CARAVAN, FLOCK or TRAIN of camels.

CARIBOU

A
HERD
of caribou.

CATERPILLARS

An
ARMY of caterpillars.

Melissa Bee

CATS

A
CLOWDER
of cats. (sent in by Paul Chapin)
A POUNCE of
cats.
A KINDLE, LITTER OR INTRIGUE
(for kittens)

Melissa
Bee

A
CLUTTER of cats.

A
COMFORT of cats.

Gary Goldring

A
CHOWDER
of cats.

Amy Black

A COLONY
of cats (usually wild cats)

Jennifer Bradley

CATTLE

A HERD, DROVE or DRIFT
of cattle.
A MOB of
cattle (US and Australia*)

*John Slay

“Cattle” refers to both male and female cows.

Gwendolyn Cannon

Gwendolyn Cannon suggests that ‘Cattle’ refers to both male and female
cows. You must be joshing me Gwendolyn. There is no such thing as a male
cow ! He’s either a “Bull” or a “steer/Ox”. I’ll bet you did that on
purpose just to see how many responses you get, didn’t you ?

Donald Gillis

Additional Clarification

Although Donald is, of course, correct, in defence
of Gwendolyn I think she was using the term ‘cow’ colloquially as it is
quite difficult to think of a
term which covers both sexes (hence the use of the term ‘cattle’ in
the first place.

According to
Oxford Dictionaries – the definition of ‘cattle’ is ‘large ruminant
animals with horns and cloven hoofs, domesticated for meat or milk, or
as beasts of burden; cows and oxen.’

Another term for male cattle is ‘bullock’. A
bullock is a male domestic bovine animal that has been castrated and is
raised for beef.

CHEETAHS

A
COALITION
of cheetahs

Lisa Ashley Mayock

CHICKEN

A BROOD, CLUTCH,
flock, run or PEEP
of chicken

CHICKS

A
CLUTCH OR CHATTERING of chicks.

Michael
Haberl

CHOUGHS

A
CHATTERING
of choughs.

CLAMS

A
BED
of clams

Clyde Hogendobler

COATI
(COATIMUNDI)

A
BAND of coati (coatimundi)

COBRAS

A
QUIVER
of cobras

Michael Haberl

COCKROACHES

An
INTRUSION of cockroaches.

Melissa Bee

COLTS

A
RAG
of colts.

COOTS

A
COVERT
or COVER* of coots.

*Melissa Bee

CORMORANTS

A
GULP (SOLITUDE)* OR
FLIGHT
of cormorants.

*Melissa Bee

COWS

A
HERD
of cows.

Patricia
Ellistone

A
KINE*
of cows (12 cows are a FLINK)

Michael Haberl

* This term is not widely used
these days and is considered archaic by some.

“Kine” refers to only female cows (like a dairy herd).
“Cattle” refers to both male and female cows.

Gwendolyn Cannon

SEE ALSO “CATTLE” above for other terms.

COYOTE

A
PACK
of coyotesA TRAIN
of coyotes
Donald KrossA BAND
of coyotes
Michael Haberl

A ROUT
of coyotes

Bud Stockwell

CRABS

A
BUSHEL***
of crabs

Kristen Reece

A CAST
of crabs

C. MacIntire

***For
your information, a bushel of crabs is what you call it if you are
buying crabs to eat. Bushel is the measurement of how many you will buy
(i.e. Half a bushel, two bushels). Its like buying meat in pounds at the
deli. eaten. I believe a group of live crabs is called a cast.

Steve Miller has also pointed out that
it is incorrect to apply this label to certain specific species e.g.
a bushel of crabs as you could equally have a bushel of corn.

CRANES

A HERD, SEIGE or
SEDGE* of cranes

* fMelissa Bee

CROCODILES

A
CONGREGATION
or NESTA BASK
or FLOAT of crocodiles.

Michael Haberl

A

STRIKER
(unconfirmed)

Mike Paget

CROWS

A
HOVER,
MUSTER, or
PARCEL
of crows.

A
MURDER of crows

Jill
Dobbs, Rachael Blomeley and anon.

A HORDE of
crows.

Melissa Bee

A
PARLIAMENT
of crows.

Jill Dean

CUBS

A LITTER of cubs

CURLEW

A HERD of curlew

CURS

A
COWARDICE
of curs.

Michael Haberl

DEER

ROE DEER

A HERD, LEASH or MOB
of deer

A
BEVY
of roe deer.

Melissa Bee

DOGFISH

A
TROOP
of dogfish

DOGS

A PACK (wild dogs) or KENNEL
of dogs
A COWARDICE
of curs.
)
A LITTER of
puppies.

Melissa Bee

DOLPHINS

A
SCHOOL
of dolphins.A
POD
of dolphins.

Audrie Dugger

DONKEYS

A
HERD
or PACE of donkeys/asses

Melissa Bee

& Michael
Haberl

DOTTEREL

A
TRIP
of dotterel.

Melissa Bee

Apparently a Dotterel is a rare plover
of upland areas of Eurasia.

Thanks to
Linwood Lyons for supplying this useful information.

Dotterels breed on our
beach near Nelson, New Zealand, in the southern summer. They
then migrate to Siberia for the northern summer, and so on.
They are quite small dainty birds, you would never guess
that they have such stamina.

Robert Bull

DOVES

A FLIGHT,
DULE
or DOLE of doves.
A PITYING of
turtle doves.

Melissa Bee

A
PLAGUE of doves

Jay Johnson

DUCKS

A RAFT, PADDLING or BUNCH
of ducks on water.
A TEAM,
BRACE, BED, FLIGHT OR FLOCK* of wild ducks in
flight.

Melissa Bee

A
BADLING of ducks.

Gordon Potts

I was looking at your wonderful list of animal collectives for my
website (everbosity.wordpress.com) and came across the use of
“brace”
several times, firstly under birds. A brace is a pair of anything and
not specifically related to any animal. A player can score a brace of
goals in a football match for example. I wouldn’t consider it a
collective title.

Tench
Ringgold

DUNLINS

A FLING of dunlins

EAGLES

A
CONVOCATION
of eagles.A
CONGREGATION
of eagles.

Mike Field

EELS

An
ARRAY
of eels.

John Beumer

A
SEETHING
of eels.

David
Thomson

ELEPHANTS

A HERD or
PARADE*
of elephants

*also Raila and Jon Foley

A
CRASH
of elephants.

Susan Walsh

ELK

A HERD of elk.
A GANG of
elk (US)

EMUS

A
MOB
of emus.

Michael Haberl

FERRETS

A
BUSINESS
of ferrets.

( Clyde
Hogendobler, Phillip Joss & Brian Schott)

A
BUSYNESS
of ferrets.

Angus
Mackintosh

Other
spellings of this term can be see at

https://www.all-about-ferrets.com/collective-noun-for-ferrets.html

FINCHES

A CHARM of finches

FISH

A SHOAL,
DRAFT, NEST, SCHOOL* of fish.
A RUN of
fish in motion.

* Melissa Bee

FLAMINGOES

A
STAND
of flamingoes.

Melissa Bee

A FLAMBOYANCE
of flamingoes.

Kevin Yocum

FLIES

A CLOUD, HATCH, BUSINESS* or SWARM
of flies.

* Melissa Bee

FOXES

A
SKULK
of foxes

Clyde Hogendobler

A CLOUD,
TROOP, or COMPANY
of foxes.
A LEASH OR EARTH
of foxes.*

* Melissa Bee

FROGS

An
ARMY
or COLONY of frogs.

Michael HaberlA KNOT
of frogs.

Luke Fewings

GEESE

A
GAGGLE or
FLOCK of geese.
A SKEIN, TEAM or WEDGE
of geese (in the air)
A PLUMP of geese (on water)

GERBILS

A
HORDE
of gerbils.

GIRAFFES

A
CORPS,
TROOP,

HERD of giraffes.

A TOWER
of giraffes.

Melissa
Bee

A
KINDERGARTEN
of giraffes.

James Marohn

A
JOURNEY of giraffes.

Raila and Jon Foley

A
KALEIDOSCOPE of giraffes

Jess
Gayner (via South African Game Ranger)

GNATS

A
CLOUD OR HORDE of gnats.

Melissa Bee

GNUS

An
IMPLAUSIBILITY
of gnus.

Andrew Davidson

GOATS

A FLOCK, HERD or TRIBE
of goats

A
TRIP
of goats (This is not one I have heard of before – thank you Lee
Lundberg)

GOLDFINCHES

A
CHARM
of goldfinches.

GOLDFISH

A
TROUBLING
of goldfish.

GORILLAS

A
BAND
of gorillas

Clyde Hogendobler

A WHOOP
of gorillas.

Several people have suggested a ‘flange’ of
gorillas as this was featured in Series 2, episode 5 of ‘Not The
Nine O’Clock News’ on the 28/04/1980 however, I feel
this actually puts the term in doubt as appears to be qualified by
Stephen Fry at:-

http://old.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=8498&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=764b6eda4eab5327541dcc71faae5e12

Mark
Lyndon has commented as follows:-

In the sketch
you reference, Gerald makes it clear that this is in fact incorrect, and
that’s it’s a flange of baboons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCYGm1vMJ0

Both “flange”
and “whoop” seem to be have been coined in that sketch btw:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ABaboon#%22Flange_of_baboons%22

https://listverse.com/2012/01/24/11-words-with-surprising-derivations/

It’s debatable
whether or not they have become real collective nouns since then.

GRASSHOPPERS

A
CLOUD
of grasshoppers.

GREYHOUNDS

A
LEASH
of greyhounds.

GROUSE

A PACK or COVEY of
grouse

GUILLEMOTS

A
BAZAAR
of guillemots.

GUINEA FOWL

A
CONFUSION
of guinea fowl.

Alexandra
Bylczynski

A
RASP
of guinea fowl.

Reginald
Hughes

GUINEA PIGS

A
GROUP
of guinea pigs

Mike Holden

GULLS

A
COLONY
of gulls.

Melissa Bee

HAMSTERS

A
HORDE
of hamsters.

Margie and John

HARES

A
HUSK, DOWN or MUTE of hares.A TRACE
of hares.

Alexandra
Bylczynski

HAWKS

A
CAST,
KETTLE (flying in
large numbers) or BOIL
(two or more) of hawks.

Melissa
Bee

HEDGEHOGS

An
ARRAY of hedgehogs.

HENS

A
BROOD
of hens.

HERONS

A
SCATTERING,
SEIGE or
SEDGE* of herons.

* Melissa Bee

HERRING

An
ARMY of herring.

Melissa Bee

HIPPOPOTAMI

A
BLOAT
of hippopotami (or hippopotamuses)A RAFT
of hippopotami

Jess Gayner
(via South African Game Ranger)

HOATZIN(South American jungle bird)

A
DONGLE of hoatzin.

Elliot Eaton

HOGS

A
DRIFT
or PARCEL of hogs.

Michael Haberl

HORNETS

A
NEST
of hornets.

Melissa Bee

HORSES

A STUD or
STRING
of horses (Breeding)
A TEAM,
HARRAS,
PAIR or
RAG
of horses (i.e. colts.)*
A FIELD, HERD, REMUDA,
SET
or STABLE of horses.

* Melissa Bee

HOUNDS

A PACK, KENNEL, MUTE or CRY
of hounds

Possibly
LEASH
of hounds (but cannot confirm this fact)

John
Branda.

HUMMINGBIRDS

A
CHARM
of hummingbirds

Richard
Sanborn BA, MA, JD

HYENAS

A
CACKLE
of hyenas.

Melissa Bee

INSECTS

A SWARM of insects

JACKRABBITS

A
HUSK
of jackrabbits.

JAYS

A
PARTY
or SCOLD of jays.

Melissa Bee

JELLYFISH

A
BROOD,
SMUCK or
SMACK

of jellyfish.

KANGAROOS

A MOB or TROOP of
kangaroos

KITTENS

A
KENDLE,
KINDLE or LITTER of kittens.

LADYBIRDS
LADYBUGS
LADYBEETLES

A
LOVELINESS
of ladybirds.
Sent in by Simon Odell – not authenticated but too nice to omit.Joe Dahl says – I too have heard of the
collective noun for ladybirds being a ‘loveliness’ as heard on a BBC
Radio 4 programme a while ago.

LAPWINGS

A
DESERT
or DECEIT* of
lapwings.

*Melissa Bee

LARKS

A BEVY of larks.
An EXALTATION
of larks.

Elazar Friedman

An ASCENSION
of larks.

Michael
Haberl

LEMURS

A
TROOP of lemurs.

Alex Dunkel

LEOPARDS

A
LEAP
of leopards

Clyde Hogendobler

LICE

A
FLOCK
of lice.

LIONS

A PRIDE, FLOCK, SAWT, SOUSE, or TROOP
of lions.

A
SAULT of lions.

Alexandra
Bylczynski

LOCUSTS

A
CLOUD,
PLAGUE or SWARM
of locusts.

LOONS

A
RAFT of loons.

Dr. D. T.
Mulhearn

Dr. Mulhearn kindly provided some additional information on
this subject.

“The term is not often usable because they rarely
group. On occasion however, for reasons yet unknown, they
will meet for short periods, on a lake in groups numbering
from a half dozen to a few dozen. They drift around the lake
in their raft for a few days until they eventually again go
their separate ways.”

MAGPIES

A
TITTERING,
TIDING,
GULP,
MURDER or
CHARM* of magpies.

* Melissa Bee

MALLARDS

A
SORD
or BRACE* of
mallards.

Elazar Friedman

* Melissa Bee

I was looking at your
wonderful list of animal collectives for my website
(everbosity.wordpress.com) and came across the use of
“brace”
several times, firstly under birds. A brace is a pair of anything and
not specifically related to any animal. A player can score a brace
of goals in a football match for example. I wouldn’t consider it a
collective title.

Tench
Ringgold

MARES

A
STUD
of mares.

Michael Haberl

MARTENS

A
RICHNESS
of martens.

Melissa Bee

A RICHESSE
of martens.

Jayne Collins

MEERKATS

A
MOB
of meerkats.

Kristin Howard

MICE

A
MISCHIEF of mice.
A HORDE of mice.
A HARVEST of mice.
A COLONY of mice.
A NEST of mice.

MINNOWS

A
STEAM
of minnows.

MOLES

A
LABOUR
of moles.

Phillip Joss

MONGOOSES

A
BUSINESS
of mongooses.

Steve
Rundstrom

MONKEYS

A TROOP, CARTLOAD
or BARREL* of
monkeys

*
Melissa Bee

MOOSE

A
HERD
of moose.

MOSQUITOES

A
SCOURGE
of mosquitoes.

MULES

A
BARREN,
PACK* or SPAN of mules.

* Melissa Bee

NIGHTINGALES

A
WATCH
of nightingales.An
ENCHANTMENT
of nightingales.

David Thomson

OTTERS

A
FAMILY, BEVY or
ROMP* of otters.

* Melissa Bee

A RAFT
of otters

Donald Cheek.

OWLS

A
PARLIAMENT
of owls.

Anonymous
contributor & Raila and Jon Foley

A STARE
or
WISDOM of owls.

Grant Schneider

A STUDY
of owls.

Amelia B.

OXEN

A
TEAM
or YOKE of oxen..

Melissa Bee

A DROVE or
HERD
of oxen

Michael Haberl

A SPAN*
of oxen

Richard Bowen

*(I believe this may
refer to a team of two or more)

OYSTERS

A
BED
of oysters

Clyde Hogendobler and Kristen Reece

PARROTS

A
PANDEMONIUM
or COMPANY* of
parrots.

*
Melissa Bee

PARTRIDGES

A COVEY of
partridges

PEACOCKS

A
MUSTER
or OSTENTATION* of
peacock.

* Melissa Bee

A
PULCHRITUDE
of peacocks.

* S. M. Steven.

PEEPS

A
LITTER
of peeps.

Michael Haberl

PELICANS

A
SQUADRON
of pelicans.

Miranda

A
POD
or SCOOP of pelicans.

PENGUINS

A ROOKERY or
COLONY* of penguins

* Melissa Bee

PHEASANTS

A HEAD, NYE, NEST, , NIDE (BROOD)* or
BEVY
of pheasants.

* Melissa Bee

A
BOUQUET
of pheasants (in flight)

Alexandra
Bylczynski

PIGEONS

A KIT of pigeons
(flying together)
A FLOCK or
FLIGHT
of pigeons.

Michael Haberl

I have been
advised by Terry West that this can also be
a “LOFT” of pigeons. I am,
however, a little nervous about this one as I know pigeons’ living
quarters are called a Loft.

You
question a ‘loft’ of pigeons because a loft may be a pigeon’s home. Many
creatures can be referred to in this way – cf. a dray of squirrels; and
I wonder if a cete of badgers is not, at heart, a ‘set’ of badgers.

Roger Whiteway

PIGS

A
HERD, TRIP or LITTER of pigs
A DRIFT,
DROVE,
SOUNDER (swine),
TEAM, PASSEL
(hogs)*

* Melissa
Bee

PLOVERS

A STAND, WING OR CONGREGATION
of plovers

PONIES

A
DROVE OR STRING of ponies.

PORCUPINES

A
PRICKLE
of porcupines.

* Melissa
Bee

PORPOISES

A HERD, SCHOOL or POD
of porpoises.

PRAIRIE DOGS

A
COTERIE
of prairie dogs.

Ken

PTARMIGAN

A COVEY of
Ptarmigan

PUGS (breed of dog)

A
GRUMBLE of Pugs

PUPS

A LITTER of pups

A
PUDDLE
of puppies

Sarah Smith

QUAIL

A BEVY, DRIFT or
COVEY* of quail

* Melissa Bee

RABBITS

A
BURY,
COLONY, CIRCLE,
NEST,
HERD
(domestic), LITTER
(young) of rabbits.

* Melissa Bee

A
TRACE
of rabbits.

Alexandra
Bylczynski

Several
people, including Lyle McNair, have submitted this term but it
has always been my understanding that ‘warren’ was the name given to the
network of interconnecting rabbit burrows in which rabbits live.

Collective
nouns are notoriously difficult to authenticate but during research,
although I could not find official clarification that warren is an
authentic collective noun, I have seen other references to its use so I
have decided to include it.

A
WARREN of rabbits.

Lyle has now sent me some
additional information regarding the use of the term “warren” as a
collective noun.

The “World English Dictionary” (accessible through

www.dictionary.com)
defines “warren” as “a colony of rabbits” and “colony” in a zoological
sense is further defined as “a group of the same type of animal or plant
living or growing together, especially in large numbers”.

RACCOONS

A
GAZE of raccoons.

Chris Lam

A
NURSERY of raccoons.

RACEHORSES

A STRING of
racehorses

RATS

A
COLONY
of rats.
A PACK or
SWARM
of rats.

Michael Haberl

A MISCHIEF
of rats.

Phil
Malia,

RATTLESNAKES

A
RHUMBA
of rattlesnakes.

Michael Haberl.

RAVENS

An UNKINDNESS of ravens.

A MURDER
of ravens.

Michelle Hellstern

A
CONSPIRACY of ravens.

Alex Baxter

REINDEER

A
HERD
of reindeer.

RHINOS

A
CRASH
or HERD of
rhinos

Clyde Hogendobler)

Michael Haberl/ Raila and Jon Foley

ROEBUCKS

A
BEVY
of roebucks.

ROOKS

A
BUILDING or ROOKERY of rooks.
A CLAMOUR of rooks.

Michael Haberl

A PARLIAMENT
of rooks.

Clayton Deathe

ROTIFERS

(a type of plankton found in lakes and
rivers)

A
POD
of rotifers.

Matt

RUFFS

A HILL of ruffs

SARDINES

A
FAMILY
of sardines.

SASQUATCH

A
PUNGENT
of sasquatch.

Lindsay
Boe

SCHNAUZERS

A
STENCH
of SchnauzersNo complaints please, this was sent in by DD a Schnauzer owner who is a
Veterinary Surgeon (identity protected by me, for obvious reasons!!!!)

SEA OTTERS

A
RAFT
of sea otters
Donald Cheek.

SEAGULLS

A
FLOCK
of seagulls.

Jason Murray

SEAHORSES

A
HERD
of seahorses.
** It is rare for
seahorses to group together so there is no real collective noun but
the above is the term sometimes used for a collection of seahorses.Paul Bergeron has also
advised that the term for the offspring of seahorses is “fry”.

SEALS

A HERD, HAREM*, TRIP or ROOKERY*
of seals
A POD of
seals (a small herd)

* Tom Clarke has commented – “I
note that you list harem for seals. A harem usually refers to a group of
female seals who have been organized or collected by a single male for
breeding purposes.”

*
Leigh-Anne Kolasinski advises that the term “rookery” is normally
used for the place where seals give birth rather than as a collective
noun.

Another
term used for on land habitat of seals/sea lions is ‘haul-out’ but this
would not be used as a collective noun.

D. C. Reid.

I have noticed that
many of the collective nouns featured on the various pages do in fact
refer to the habitat rather than groups but these terms are notoriously
difficult to authenticate; even the most prestigious dictionaries
do not feature them, presumably for that reason. I am led to
believe, however, that the The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus
(ed. Maurice Waite, 2007) shows this term as being a collective noun.

SHARKS

A
SHIVER
of sharks.

Melissa Bee

SHEEP

A FLOCK, HERD, HIRSEL, PACK, DROVE* or
TRIP of sheep

*Courtesy of Melissa
Bee

A
MOB
of sheep (Australian)

Anthony Coates

SKUNKS

A
SURFEIT
of skunks.

Mary
Gutierrez

SKYLARKS

An
ASCENSION
of skylarks.

David Milne

SNAKES

A
DEN,
BED, PIT or SLITHER
of snakes.A
NEST or KNOT of snakes.

Melissa Bee

A BROOD
of snakes (a family group)

Robert Richards

SNIPE

A WISP or WALK of
snipe

SPARROWS

A
HOST
of sparrows.A KNOT
of sparrows. (Thomas
Hardy Far from the Madding Crowd)

Steve

SQUIRRELS

A
DRAY*
or SCURRY* of
squirrels.

* Melissa Bee

*
Laurel Parker has
pointed out –

“I believe the term “dray” of squirrels is
incorrect, since a dray is the name for a squirrel’s sleeping
quarters, and most of the time there is only one squirrel inhabiting
a dray. At most, a dray would house a litter (2-4 babies) plus mom
but that is only twice a year.

Squirrels do use a buddy system when they can
and pair or triple up for safety ( this is not their mates but often
siblings or two weaker members of a greater community will buddy for
strength in numbers).

Any way you look at it, a dray doesn’t hold much
of a group.”

I did some research on the
subject and the term “dray” does appear to be the popular
choice, however, like Laurel, experts say that as squirrels are
fairly solitary creatures there is probably no need for a collective
noun.

STARLINGS

A
MURMATION
of starlings.

Elazar Friedman

A
MURMURATION
of starlings.

Corrected
by Andrew Okulitch

A FILTH
of starlings

Wayne Bickley

A
CHATTERING of starlings.

Richard
Sanborn BA, MA, JD

AN
AFFLICTION
of starlings.

John Nanian

STINGRAYS

A
FEVER
of stingrays.

Ellie Foran &
Darryll Griffiths

STORKS

A
MUSTERING
of storks.

Melissa Bee

SWALLOWS

A FLIGHT or GULP of
swallows

SWANS

A GAME, BANK, TEAM, HERD
or BEVY* of swans.

A WEDGE of swans in
the air.

Melissa Bee

A
LAMENTATION of swans.

Michael Haberl

A
BALLET of swans.

Tom

SWIFTS

A
FLOCK
of swifts

Michael Haberl

SWINE

A HERD,
DRIFT OR SOUNDER of swine

TADPOLES

A
CLOUD
of tadpoles.

Summer
Robinson

Jim Arnosky’s book A
Kettle of Hawks and other wildlife groups

TEAL

A
SPRING
of teal.

TERMITES

A
BROOD,
COLONY, NEST OR SWARM of termites.

THRUSHES

A
MUTATION
of thrushes.

TIGERS

An
AMBUSH or STREAK*
of tigers.

*
Melissa Bee

TOADS

A
KNOT or KNAB of toads

Clyde Hogendobler

TORTOISES

A
CREEP
of tortoises.

TROUT

A
HOVER
of trout.

TURKEYS

A
RAFTER
or GANG* of
turkeys.

* Melissa Bee

A CLUTCH *
of turkeys.

Anon

* I think this term
usually refers to the eggs e.g. “a clutch of eggs“

TURTLE
DOVES

A
PITYING or DULE of turtle doves.

Melissa Bee

TURTLES

A
BALE, DOLE or NEST*
of turtles.

Clyde
Hogendobler

A
TURN of turtles.

* Melissa Bee

UNICORNS

A
FANTASY
of unicorns.

Natalie
Stevens

A

BLESSING of unicorns.

Jayne
Collins.

A
GLORY
of unicorns.

Brigitte
Wray-Miller (via Bruce Coville)

A SURPRISE
of unicorns.

Danielle W. (via Jane Yolen’s short story “The Boy Who Drew Unicorns”

VIPERS

A
NEST
of vipers.
Melissa BeeA BROOD
of vipers.

The term ‘brood’ has been applied to vipers, most notably by Jesus
(Matthew 12:34, Matthew 23:33), but also by John the Baptist (Matthew
3:7, Luke 3:7). Whether or not this stands up to scrutiny and qualifies
as a precedent (given that neither of the two were scientists, nor were
the translators of the Bible) is, of course, up to you.

Indy Sambasivam

VULTURES

A
COMMITTEE
of vultures.

Kevin Yocum

WALRUSES

A
HERD
or POD of walruses.

WASPS

A
PLADGE
of wasps.A PAIL
of wasps.A NEST
of wasps.

Alexandra
Bylczynski

WATERFOWL

A BUNCH, KNOB,
TRIP
or PLUMP* of
waterfowl

* Melissa
Bee

WEASELS

A **BOOGLE,
GANG, *CONFUSION
or PACK of
weasels.

**
Contributed by Dr Scott A McGinlay
BVMS MRCVS DVM

*Wayne Bickley

WHALES

A SCHOOL, HERD or GAM
of whales
A POD of
whales (small school)
A GRIND of
bottle nose whales

WIDGEON

A COMPANY or TRIP
of widgeon

WILDFOWL

A BUNCH, TRIP or PLUMP
of wildfowl.
A KNOB of
wildfowl (less than 30)

WOLVES

A PACK or ROUT of
wolves

WOMBATS

A
WISDOM of wombats.

Andy Williams

WOODCOCKS

A
FALL
of woodcocks.

WOODPECKERS

A
DESCENT
of woodpeckers.

WORMS

A
CLEW of worms.

WRENS

A HERD of wrens

A
CHIME of wrens
Phillip Joss

ZEBRAS

A
ZEAL,
HERD or
DAZZLE* of zebras

* Raila and Jon
Foley

Jennii Ramirez
wrote saying –
Are you aware that there is a
book which lists “nouns of multitude?”
It’s title is “An
Exaltation of Larks.”

Some more “unusual” terms suggested for
other species/objects/professions can be found on the following pages:

Aadvarks to Butterflies
Car mechanics to
Dung beetles
Editors to
Gunzels
Hair stylists to
Lumberjacks
Magicians to
Ornithologists
Painters to Rock
climbers
Sailors to System
administrators
Talk show hosts
to Urbanites

Vampires to
Zombies
There are nearly 900 pages on the Hints and Things site, providing
information, hints and tips on a wide variety of subjects. I must
admit I have been very surprised to find that the pages on Collective Nouns
have proved to be some of the most popular attracting a great deal of
interest.
With this in mind I thought you maybe interested to hear that there is a
book available entitled
“Flocks, Herds, Litters and Schools” by Jim McMullan in which he tries
to find the origins of some of the more popular collective nouns in a fun
and interactive manner.
For a bit of fun why not check out our Fictitious
Collectives Page
and our Collectives
Poem.

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