What Do You Call a Group of…?

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science skepticism, USGS, what you call groups of animals

There is just no way you are not going to find this interesting. Below is a (semi) complete list of what you would call various groups of animals.

I absolutely love the Victorian flair. An exaltation of larks? A shiver of sharks? Fantastic.

Feel free to break these out in conversation. “Science is the poetry of reality”, after all.

Mammals
Apes	A shrewdness
Asses	A pace
Badgers	A cete
Bats	A colony
Bears	A sloth, sleuth
Buffalo	A gang, an obstinacy (I suspect these refer to old world buffalo; use “herd” for American bison)
Cats	A clowder, a pounce; for kittens…A kindle, litter, an intrigue
Cattle	A drove, herd
Deer	A herd, bevy (refers only to roe deer)
Dogs	A litter (young), pack (wild), cowardice (of curs); specific to hounds…A cry, mute, pack, kennel
Elephants	A herd
Elk	A gang
Ferrets	A business
Fox	A leash, skulk, earth
Giraffes	A tower
Goats	A tribe, trip
Gorillas	A band
Hippopotamuses	A bloat
Horses	A team, harras, rag (for colts), stud (a group of horses belonging to a single owner, string (ponies)
Hyenas	A cackle
Kangaroos	A troop
Leopards	A leap
Lions	A pride
Martens	A richness
Moles	A labor
Monkeys	A troop, barrel
Mules	A pack, span, barren
Otters	A romp
Oxen	A team, yoke
Pigs	A drift, drove, litter (young), sounder (of swine), team, passel (of hogs), singular (refers to a group of boars)
Porcupines	A prickle
Rabbits	A colony, warren, nest, herd (domestic only), litter (young); specific to hares…A down, husk
Rhinoceroses	A crash
Seals	A pod, herd
Sheep	A drove, flock, herd
Squirrels	A dray, scurry
Tigers	A streak
Whales	A pod, gam, herd
Wolves	A pack, rout or route (when in movement)

Birds
Birds in general	A flight (in the air), flock (on the ground), volary, brace (generally for gamebirds or waterfowl, referring to a pair or couple killed by a hunter)
Bitterns	A sedge
Buzzards	A wake
Bobolinks	A chain
Chicks (of many species)	A brood; clutch
Coots	A cover
Cormorants	A gulp
Cranes	A sedge
Crows	A murder, horde
Dotterel	A trip
Doves	A dule, pitying (specific to turtle doves)
Ducks	A brace, flock (in flight), raft (on water) team, paddling (on water), badling
Eagles	A convocation
Finches	A charm
Flamingos	A stand
Geese	A flock, gaggle (on the ground), skein (in flight)
Grouse	A pack (in late season)
Gulls	A colony
Hawks	A cast, kettle (flying in large numbers), boil (two or more spiraling in flight)
Herons	A sedge, a siege
Jays	A party, scold
Lapwings	A deceit
Larks	An exaltation
Mallards	A sord (in flight), brace
Magpies	A tiding, gulp, murder, charm
Nightingales	A watch
Owls	A parliament
Parrots	A company
Partridge	A covey
Peacocks	A muster, an ostentation
Penguins	A colony
Pheasant	A nest, nide (a brood), nye, bouquet
Plovers	A congregation, wing (in flight)
Ptarmigans	A covey
Rooks	A building
Quail	A bevy, covey
Ravens	An unkindness
Snipe	A walk, a wisp
Sparrows	A host
Starlings	A murmuration
Storks	A mustering
Swallows	A flight
Swans	A bevy, wedge (in flight)
Teal	A spring
Turkeys	A rafter, gang
Widgeons	A company
Woodcocks	A fall
Woodpeckers	A descent

Fish
Fish in general	A draft, nest, school, shoal (some authors claim that the common “school” is a corruption of shoal, and therefore incorrect)
Bass	A shoal
Herring	An army
Sharks	A shiver
Trout	A hover

[Via USGS]

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