When we get together to appreciate the arts, for political purposes, for social interactions or simply for support, we can be called, among other things, an audience, a band, a bunch, a cohort, a crowd, a group, a mob or a troupe.
But it seems we get extremely creative with our language when we describe nonhuman animals that cluster. From a “shrewdness of apes” to a “zeal of zebras,” we have come up with some inspired and inventive terms for the gatherings of beings who share our planet.
Such an imaginative vocabulary used to label these plural “others” makes me happy. It shows that we have taken some time to consider our fellows in the animal kingdom and have chosen to bestow upon them a richness of our words. Even the more derogatory terms—such as a “conspiracy of lemurs” or an “unkindness of ravens”—reveals, at least, contemplation for the neighbors that share our environment.
While in our everyday conversations, we may refer to owls, plovers or starlings by the word flock and not by the expressions of parliament,congregation or murmuration, they are officially listed in the Oxford Dictionary.
Below, you’ll find just some of the strangest and most oddly beautifully names we have for groups of animals.
Amphibians and reptiles
• Cobras: a quiver • Crocodiles: a bask • Frogs: an army • Salamanders: a maelstrom • Toads: a knot • Turtles: a bale or a turn
• Bobolinks: a chain • Blackbirds: a cloud, a cluster or a merle
• Buzzards: a wake • Cormorants: a gulp • Crows: a murder or a horde • Doves: a dule (or a dole) or a pitying (specific to turtledoves) • Ducks: a paddling (on the water) • Dunlins: a fling (in flight) • Eagles: a convocation • Falcons: a cast
• Finches: a charm • Flamingos: a stand • Geese: a gaggle (on the ground), a skein (in flight) or a wedge (in V formation in flight) • Hawks: a cast or a kettle (riding a thermal) • Herons: a siege • Jays: a party • Lapwings: a deceit • Larks: an exaltation • Mallards: a sord (in flight) • Magpies: a tiding • Nightingales: a watch
When owls confer, a “parliament” is in session.
• Owls: a parliament • Parrots: a company or a pandemonium • Partridges (or Grouse or Ptarmigan): a covey • Peacocks: an ostentation • Pelicans: a pod • Penguins: a parcel • Pheasants: a nye (on the ground) or a bouquet (when flushed) • Pigeons: a kit • Plovers: a congregation or a wing (in flight) • Rooks: a building • Raptors: a cauldron
Should this “nye” of pheasants flush, they would become a “bouquet.”
• Ravens: an unkindness • Snipes: a walk or a wisp • Sparrows: a host • Starlings: a murmuration • Storks: a muster • Swans: a whiteness • Teal: a spring • Widgeons: a trip • Woodcocks: a fall • Woodpeckers: a descent
This photo of swans is an image of grace. It’s also a picture of a “whiteness.”
Fish
• Herring: an army • Sharks: a shiver • Trout: a hover
Invertebrates
• Bees: a drift, an erst, a hive or a swarm • Butterflies: a kaleidoscope, a rabble or a swarm • Caterpillars: an army • Clams: a bed • Crabs: a consortium • Cockroaches: an intrusion
• Flies: a business • Jellyfish: a fluther or a smack • Lobsters: a risk • Oysters: a bed • Snails: a hood • Squid: an audience
When crabs get together, a “consortium” is afoot.
Mammals and marsupials
• Apes: a shrewdness • Badgers: a cete • Bears: a sloth or sleuth • Buffalo: an obstinacy • Donkeys: a pace • Elephants: a parade • Elk: a gang • Ferrets: a business • Foxes: a skulk
While the common terminology for a group of elk is a “herd,” another name may surprise you. A group of elk may also be referred to as a “gang.”
• Giraffes: a tower • Goats: a tribe or a trip • Gorillas: a band • Hares: a down, a drove, a flick, a husk or a warren • Hippopotamuses: a bloat • Horses: a harras or a rag (for colts) • Hyenas: a cackle • Jaguars: a shadow • Kangaroos: a troop or mob
• Lemurs: a conspiracy • Leopards: a leap • Lions: a pride or a sawt • Martens: a richesse • Moles: a labour • Monkeys: a troop • Mules: a barren • Otters: a romp • Porcupines: a prickle
We may never know if these lemurs share secrets; but we do know that just by being with one another, they constitute a “conspiracy.”
• Porpoises: a herd, a pod, a school or a turmoil • Rhinoceroses: a crash • Roe deer: a bevy • Seals: a harem, a herd, a pod or a spring • Squirrels: a dray or a scurry • Swine: a drift or a sounder • Tigers: an ambush or a streak • Whales: a herd, a gam, a pod or a school • Wild cats: a destruction
• Wolves: a pack or a rout • Zebras: a dazzle or a zeal
After reading these lists, I hope you are inspired to get lyrical with your language. The next time you travel to Africa or visit the Galapagos Islands, don’t be hesitant to talk about the bloat of hippos, the crash of rhinos, the leap of leopards, the bale of sea turtles or the gulp of cormorants that you saw.
Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,
A multiple award-winning author and writer specializing in nature-travel topics and environmental issues, Candice has traveled around the world, from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, and from New Zealand to Scotland's far northern, remote regions. Her assignments have been equally diverse, from covering Alaska’s Yukon Quest dogsled race to writing a history of the Galapagos Islands to describing and photographing the national snow-sculpting competition in her former home state of Wisconsin.
In addition to being a five-time book author, Candice's work has also appeared in several national and international publications, such as "The Huffington Post" and "Outside Magazine Online."
Together, Natural Habitat Adventures and World Wildlife Fund have teamed up to arrange nearly 100 nature travel experiences around the planet, while helping to protect the magnificent places we visit and their wild inhabitants.
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Nice work Candice. Adding this to my writing references. Been spending time with a hover of trout…..
Thanks for including “a drift of swine,” Candy. That’s one I always can remember.
You know, given the high drama in some monkeys’ interactions, maybe they should have been called a “troupe” rather than a “troop”!
Well said, as usual, Joan! —C.G.A.