96 Fun Facts About Groups of Animals

What is a group of crows called?

A murder of crows is the traditional term, though ornithologists rarely use it; winter crow roosts can number in the tens of thousands of birds.

What is a group of owls called?

A parliament of owls is the popular term, though most owls are solitary hunters, so a real 'parliament' is a rare sight.

What is a group of lions called?

A pride of lions is the standard term; a pride is built around related lionesses, who even nurse one another's cubs, with one or a few adult males attached.

What is a group of geese on the ground called?

A gaggle of geese is the term for the birds on the ground; once airborne the flock takes a separate set of flight terms.

What is a group of geese in flight called?

A skein is first of all a length of coiled yarn, a fitting picture of the long trailing lines geese fly in.

What is a group of flamingos called?

A flamboyance of flamingos is the popular term, with 'stand' the plainer one; over a million lesser flamingos can crowd an East African soda lake, drawn by the algae that thrive in its caustic water.

What is a group of ravens called?

An unkindness of ravens is the traditional term, one of the poetic inventions of 15th-century English hunting lists; like most of them, it probably never had any real use among hunters.

What is a group of larks called?

An exaltation of larks appears in 15th-century English hunting lists and gave James Lipton the title of his 1968 book on collective nouns.

What is a group of ferrets called?

A business of ferrets is the traditional term, also spelled 'busyness'; in truth, ferrets sleep 14 hours or more a day.

What is a group of rhinoceroses called?

A crash of rhinoceroses is the popular term, and white rhino cows and calves do gather in groups of up to a dozen or so, while adult bulls mostly live alone.

What is a group of hippopotamuses called?

A bloat of hippos is the popular term; hippos spend the day packed together in rivers and lakes and come ashore at night to graze.

What is a group of giraffes called?

A tower of giraffes is the popular term, though 'herd' is used just as often because giraffe groups are loose and change membership constantly.

What is a group of zebras called?

A dazzle of zebras plays on the idea that massed stripes make it hard for a predator to single out one animal; 'zeal' is another recorded term.

What is a group of jellyfish called?

A smack of jellyfish is the traditional folk term; marine biologists usually say 'bloom' for a sudden jellyfish population explosion.

What is a group of porcupines called?

A prickle of porcupines is the listed term, though porcupines live mostly alone: with quills like theirs, they have no need of a herd for protection.

What is a group of hedgehogs called?

An array of hedgehogs is the term modern lists give; like most such coinages, it sees far more use in quizzes than among the people who study hedgehogs.

What is a group of penguins on land called?

A waddle of penguins is the term for the birds on land; in the water the same group becomes a raft.

What is a group of wombats called?

A wisdom of wombats is the term modern lists give; wombat researchers rarely use it, since the animals are largely solitary burrowers.

What is a group of cheetah males called?

A coalition is the biologists' term for male cheetahs, often brothers, that band together for life to hold a territory; females live alone.

What is a group of tigers called?

An ambush of tigers is the popular term, with 'streak' as the alternative; tigers are solitary, so either word is almost purely literary.

What is a group of cockroaches called?

An intrusion of cockroaches is the term given in modern lists; like most such coinages it is more joke than working word, and scientists do not use it.

What is a group of ladybugs called?

A loveliness of ladybugs is the listed term; the beetles really do mass together, at times by the thousands, most often to sit out the winter in a sheltered spot.

What is a group of turkeys called?

A rafter of turkeys is the traditional term; wild turkeys, large as they are, are fast fliers and roost in trees at night.

What is a group of turtles called?

A bale of turtles is the traditional term; the grandest gatherings are the arribadas of ridley sea turtles, when thousands of females come ashore on one beach to nest.

What is a group of toads called?

A knot of toads is the traditional term; toads are loners for most of the year, but in spring they converge on breeding ponds in large numbers.

What is a group of foxes called?

Skulk captures the fox's reputation for slinking; leash and earth are the other listed terms.

What is a group of hyenas called?

A cackle of hyenas is the listed term; spotted hyenas really do produce a laughing call, and biologists call their social groups clans.

What is a group of lemurs called?

A conspiracy of lemurs is the listed term; ring-tailed lemurs live in groups of up to 30, and it is the females, not the males, who are in charge.

What is a group of apes called?

A shrewdness of apes is the traditional term, recorded in 15th-century English lists; 'shrewd' then meant wicked rather than clever.

What is a group of otters called?

A romp of otters is the traditional term; sea otters, which rest together afloat in single-sex groups, are said to form a raft instead.

What is a group of stingrays called?

A fever of stingrays is the listed term; the cownose ray earns it, migrating along the Atlantic coast in schools that can be very large.

What is a group of rats called?

A mischief of rats is the listed term, with 'colony' the plain one in everyday use; brown rats do live in large groups that dig and share a burrow system.

What is a group of squirrels called?

A scurry of squirrels is the listed term, alongside 'dray', a word that properly belongs to a squirrel's nest of leaves and twigs.

What is a group of polar bears called?

A celebration of polar bears is the term in modern lists; polar bears do gather in numbers on the Hudson Bay coast near Churchill while waiting for sea ice to form.

What is a group of bears called?

A sloth of bears is one of the two traditional terms, the other being 'sleuth'; bears are typically solitary, apart from mothers with young and courting pairs.

What is a group of pugs called?

A grumble of pugs is the term modern lists give the breed; pugs do breathe noisily, because their short, pushed-in faces narrow the airway.

What is a group of goldfinches called?

A charm of goldfinches is the traditional term; this 'charm' is an old dialect word for the blended singing of birds.

What is a group of leopards called?

A leap of leopards is the traditional term from old English hunting lists; leopards are solitary cats that meet only to mate, so the word is almost purely literary.

What is a group of peafowl called?

An ostentation of peafowl is the showiest of the listed terms; only the males, peacocks, carry the famous train, while the group word covers peahens too.

What is a group of wild boar called?

A sounder of wild boar is the traditional hunting term; a sounder is built around related sows and their young, while grown males mostly live alone.

What is a group of hawks soaring together on thermals called?

A kettle of hawks is the birders' term for raptors circling together on a thermal; 'boil' is also used, while 'cast' means hawks flown together in falconry.

What is the group of horses running in a particular race called?

A field is all the horses running in one race, which is why punters speak of backing 'the field' against the favourite; a trainer's own racehorses are a string.

What is a group of ducks on the water called?

A paddling of ducks is the term for the birds on the water, where 'raft' is also used; once they take off, the same ducks become a team.

What is a group of wildebeest called?

A confusion of wildebeest is the listed term, and it fits the Serengeti migration, in which well over a million of them trek in a great loop each year in search of fresh grazing.

What is a group of moles called?

A labor of moles is the traditional term from 15th-century English lists; the mole earns it, constantly extending the tunnels in which it hunts.

What is a group of nightingales called?

A watch of nightingales is the traditional term from 15th-century English lists; unlike most songbirds, the nightingale sings at night as well as by day.

What is a group of lapwings called?

A deceit of lapwings is the traditional term; the birds feign a broken wing to lure predators away from the nest.

What is a group of lobsters called?

A risk of lobsters is the term in popular lists; spiny lobsters do gather in numbers for autumn migrations, marching single file across the seabed.

What is a group of caterpillars called?

An army of caterpillars is the listed term, shared with frogs; armyworm caterpillars really do march across fields in huge numbers, stripping crops as they go.

What is a group of salamanders called?

A maelstrom of salamanders is the listed term; spotted salamanders live underground for most of the year, then converge on breeding pools on the first rainy nights of spring.

What is a group of starfish called?

A galaxy of starfish is the listed term, and the sky theme runs deeper: zoologists call starfish asteroids, after their class Asteroidea, from the Greek for 'starlike'.

What is a group of platypuses called?

A paddle of platypuses is the term in modern Australian lists; the platypus itself is largely solitary, so a real paddle would be an unusual sight.

What is a group of prairie dogs called?

A town is the term for a prairie dog settlement, and it runs like one, split into family neighbourhoods called coteries; one town recorded in Texas held an estimated 400 million animals.

Which big-billed bird is grouped as a 'durante' in modern lists of collective nouns?

Toucans are the birds grouped as a 'durante', a name they share with Jimmy Durante, the comedian who made a running joke of his own large nose.

What is a group of baboons called?

A flange of baboons began as a joke in a 1980s Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch and has since spread into popular lists of collective nouns.

What is a group of camels called?

A caravan of camels is the listed term, from the Persian 'karvan', a company of travellers crossing the desert together.

What is a group of alligators called?

A congregation of alligators is the listed term, and the animals do gather: groups of them bellow together in choruses.

What is a group of eagles called?

A convocation of eagles borrows the word for a formal assembly of clergy or university members; like most such terms, it is not one that ornithologists actually use.

What is a group of swans in flight called?

A wedge of swans is the term for the birds in flight, when they travel in a V; without the flight, the lists call them a bevy or, more poetically, a lamentation.

What is a group of kangaroos called?

A mob of kangaroos is the everyday Australian term, also used for emus and wallabies; a mob is usually led by one dominant male.

What is a group of jays called?

A scold of jays is the listed term; blue jays mob owls and hawks with harsh calls, which is exactly what the word describes.

What is a group of sharks called?

A shiver of sharks is the listed term, though the same lists also give the plainer school and shoal; like most such coinages, it is not a word scientists use.

What is a group of woodpeckers called?

A descent of woodpeckers is the traditional term; like many of its kind, it is a fanciful coinage that probably never had much real use.

Which bird gathers in a 'murmuration'?

Starlings are the birds of the murmuration, named for the murmur of a massed flock; the word now also covers their swirling flights at dusk.

Which animal is grouped as an 'embarrassment'?

The giant panda is the animal grouped as an 'embarrassment'; wild pandas are solitary and meet only in the mating season, so a real embarrassment is a rare thing.

Which animal is grouped as an 'implausibility'?

The gnu, another name for the wildebeest, is the animal grouped as an 'implausibility' in modern lists; a newborn gnu calf can stand within minutes of birth.

Which insects gather in an 'eclipse'?

Moths are the insects grouped as an 'eclipse' in modern lists; Australia's bogong moths fly to mountain caves each spring and spend the summer massed inside, dormant.

Which animal is grouped as a 'passel'?

The opossum is the animal grouped as a 'passel'; the word is simply 'parcel' in altered form, used informally for a large number of anything.

Which bird gathers in a 'pandemonium'?

Parrots gather in a 'pandemonium', a word John Milton invented as the name of the capital of Hell in Paradise Lost; the plainer listed term is a company.

Which bird gathers in a 'gulp'?

Cormorants gather in a 'gulp'; people have long fished with trained cormorants, fitting a ring or snare at the neck so the bird cannot swallow the larger fish it catches.

Which work, printed in 1486, is the best-known early source of English collective nouns for animals?

The Book of Saint Albans, a 1486 guide to hawking, hunting and heraldry, was reprinted so often over the next century that its lists of group names stayed in circulation.

What is a group of wolves called?

A pack of wolves is the standard term; a wild pack is typically a breeding pair and their offspring of the past few years, hunting and raising pups together.

Which profession did the 1486 hunting treatise mock with the alliterative group name 'a poverty'?

Pipers were given 'a poverty' in the 1486 treatise, which extended the joke from animals to trades with entries such as 'a sentence of judges' and 'a superfluity of nuns'.

What is a group of oysters called?

A bed of oysters is the standard term; oysters settle on older shells and fuse together as they grow, so a bed can build, layer on layer, into a reef.

What is a group of crocodiles called?

A bask of crocodiles is the listed term, and it fits: crocodiles lie out in the sun to warm themselves and tolerate close company at a good basking spot.

What is the traditional name for collective nouns tied to particular animals?

Terms of venery is the traditional name; 'venery' is an old word for hunting, from the Latin 'venari', because the lists began as vocabulary a gentleman hunter was expected to know.

The fashion for an elaborate hunting vocabulary reached England from which country?

France set the fashion for an elaborate hunting vocabulary; even the 1486 English collection that made these terms famous was probably compiled from works first written in French.

What is a group of cats called?

A clowder of cats is the standard term, with glaring and clutter as alternatives; unlike the medieval coinages, clowder is first recorded only around 1800.

Besides 'herd', what is a group of elephants called?

A parade of elephants is the listed term, with 'memory' as the other playful one; wild herds are led by the oldest female, the matriarch.

What is a group of kittens called?

A kindle of kittens uses an old word for an animal's offspring; the related verb survives among rabbit breeders, whose does 'kindle' when they give birth.

What is a group of herons called?

A siege of herons is the traditional term, with 'sedge' as the other; herons nest communally in treetop heronries but hunt alone, standing motionless in the shallows.

What is a group of goats called?

A trip of goats is the traditional term, with 'tribe' as the other; goats are browsers, not grazers like sheep, and prefer to eat foliage with their heads up.

What is a group of hares called?

A husk of hares is the traditional term, with 'down' as another; unlike rabbits, hares do not burrow, and their leverets are born fully furred with their eyes open.

What is a group of raccoons called?

A gaze of raccoons is the listed term, with 'nursery' as another, a fitting word, since the commonest raccoon group is a mother with her kits.

What is a group of hounds called?

A cry of hounds is the traditional hunting term; the same word names the clamour of a pack on a scent, so the hounds are called after the noise they make.

What is a group of buffaloes called?

An obstinacy of buffaloes is the listed term, and it suits the African buffalo, a formidable animal with a name for standing its ground and defending itself fiercely.

What is a group of donkeys called?

A pace of donkeys is the traditional term; farmers also keep donkeys as livestock guards, because they will kick out at predators that come near.

What is a group of badgers called?

A cete of badgers is the traditional term, a 15th-century word of uncertain origin; the sett is the badgers' burrow, which families can use for decades.

What is a group of pheasants called?

A bouquet of pheasants is the listed term for a group; the common pheasant is native to Asia and was introduced across Europe and North America as a game bird.

Which bird gathers in a 'piteousness'?

Doves gather in a 'piteousness', and the other listed terms are just as sad: a 'pitying' of turtle doves and a 'dole', an old word for sorrow.

What do biologists call the living nest that migratory ants build from their own linked bodies?

A bivouac is the only nest these ants have: with no permanent home, the workers hook their legs together and hang in a living ball around the queen and brood.

What is a group of whales called?

A pod of whales is the everyday term; the old whalers' word was a gam, which also meant a sociable visit between two whaling ships at sea.

What is a group of locusts called?

A plague of locusts is the traditional term, familiar from the Book of Exodus, where swarms of locusts are the eighth plague of Egypt and devour whatever the hail has left.

What is a group of butterflies called?

A kaleidoscope of butterflies is the popular term; monarch butterflies gather by the millions to spend the winter in the mountain forests of central Mexico.

What is a group of piglets called?

A farrow is a litter of piglets; the word goes back to Old English 'fearh', pig, a cousin of Latin 'porcus'.

What is a group of monkeys called?

A troop of monkeys is the standard term, and unlike most of these words it is the one primatologists actually use; the playful alternative is a barrel.