What is a group of wildebeest called? Wildebeest follow the seasonal rains. Their other collective nouns include ‘mob’, ‘parcel’ and ‘horde’. They descended onto battlefields to pick at the fallen and, with their alleged prophetic powers, they appeared on roofs to portend that someone inside would soon die. ![]() ![]() The term ‘a murder of crows’ probably derives from 15th-century peasants’ fears that these sinister-looking birds, with dark feathers and jet-black eyes, were witches in disguise or messengers of the Devil. Collective nouns for different groups of animals: What is a group of crows called? Crows gather in a public park. There are various animal collective nouns that you're probably already familiar with such as ‘a flock of sheep’ or ‘swarm of bees’, but there are also an astonishing number of intriguing animal collective nouns that you may not have heard of before. What is a collective noun?Ī collective noun is a countable noun that refers to a group of people or things. We can also come over to your school for an animal school visit or arrange for an animal workshop with us where the children can learn about looking after animals and animal behaviour, and have fun too.You may have heard of ‘a school of fish’, ‘a pride of lions’ or ‘a pack of wolves’, but have you ever come across ‘a shrewdness of apes’ or ‘a confusion of wildebeest’? In this article, author and investigator of languages and interesting words Adam Jacot de Boinod takes a look at some of the more unfamiliar animal collective nouns. Our mobile zoo has many friendly animals such as rabbits, tarantulas, geckos, vinegaroons and more, perfect for an animal party. Extra informationĪnimal-Club provides animal parties or animal handling workshops. You will be able to see, learn and interact with many wonderful animals with the help of our presenters. Parrots can either be a company or pandemonium, which i like to pretend depends on how good their manager is. That’s what makes it so surprising that a group of them is a parliament. Owls are wise, dignified and experts at what they do. Personally i think we should stick with swarm!Ī plague of locusts invokes imagery of biblical punishment and yet a flock of lice is perhaps the most thought of all. Mammals have some interesting, fitting and often hilarious collective nouns but that doesn’t mean you should overlook birds, insects and fish.Īn army of ants or caterpillars, for example, offers up some charming imagery of tiny insects marching off to war.Ī float or bask of crocodiles fits the bone chilling yet awesome stillness of a crocodile stalking prey.Ī paddling of ducks floating across a pond is almost too cute to bear and so we must swiftly move on.įlies are given far too much credit, being referred to as a business when in groups. A gang of weasels taps into the mischievous and shockingly vicious nature of the seemingly cute animal.Ī wisdom of wombats seems to point to some deep rooted intelligence and knowledge (and i mean DEEP).įinishing off our mammal section, we have a tower of giraffes. These collective nouns are more focused on the appearance of the animal, quite an apt way of naming them in all fairness!Ī stench of skunks feels a little mean, albeit fair. In a similar vein you might happen across a bloat of hippos or even a prickle of porcupines. Otters float around in groups holding hands forming an adorable raft and hyenas are infamous for their unsettling cackle (and for being played by Whoopi Goldberg). ![]() I think the reason i love this one in particular is the way it ties into the witchy association of bats.Ī raft of otters and a cackle of hyenas show another common naming convention for collective nouns. You could see a colony of bats, a cloud of bats or, my personal favorite, a cauldron of bats. A great example of this is bats which, when seen in a group, can be referred to in several ways. More often that not, there are various options for an animal’s collective nouns. Starting off our list, let’s look at some great mammalian examples. Let’s get started! Collective nouns for mammals The most well known collective nouns are a bit dull, that’s why i want to show you some of my favorite collective nouns from around the animal kingdom. ![]() “But those are boring!” I hear you cry and you know what? You’re right. Think flock of hens, herd of cattle or pack of wolves. In case you’re not aware, ‘collective nouns’ is a fancy linguistic term that basically just means the name for a group of animals. Collective nouns are one of the most charming and endearing things to research and no, i’m not exaggerating.
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