Jordan Hammond
We often find ourselves captivated by animals’ beauty, power, behavior, and habitats.
But there’s another aspect of the animal kingdom that I find equally intriguing, if not outright amusing: the collective nouns for animals. From a crash of rhinos to a prickle of hedgehogs, these names for groups of animals are a hoot.
Test Your Knowledge of Collective Animal Nouns
A Parade of Common Collective Nouns
Let’s start with some of the more common groupings.
Bevy
- A bevy of larks.
- A bevy of quail.
- A bevy of swans.
Colony
- A colony of bats.
- A colony of bees.
- A colony of otters (family is also acceptable).
Flock
- A flock of birds.
- A flock of geese.
- A flock of starlings.
Gang
- A gang of buffalo.
- A gang of elk.
- A gang of turkeys.
Herd
- A herd of antelope.
- A herd of elephants.
- A herd of zebras.
Litter
- A litter of kittens.
- A litter of puppies.
Nest
- A nest of birds.
- A nest of vipers.
Pack
- A pack of dogs.
- A pack of wolves.
Prickle
- A prickle of hedgehogs.
- A prickle of hedgehogs.
Swarm
- A swarm of bees.
- A swarm of caterpillars.
Troop
- A troop of baboons.
- A troop of monkeys.
A Drove of Droll Collective Nouns
Now let’s move on to the unique, poetic, amusing, unusual, and downright outrageous.
Armory
An armory of aardvarks.
Army
An army of frogs.
Bale
A bale of turtles.
Bask
A bask of crocodiles.
Bloat
A bloat of hippos.
Business
A business of ferrets.
Cackle
A cackle of hyenas (they also go by pack or clan).
Caravan
A caravan of camels.
Cast
A cast of falcons.
Coalition
A coalition of cheetahs.
Confusion
A confusion of wildebeest.
Conspiracy
A conspiracy of lemurs.
Convocation
A convocation of eagles
Crash
A crash of rhinos.
Cete
A cete of badgers.
Destruction
A destruction of cats (alternatives include a clowder or a glaring).
Drove
A drove of cattle.
Fever
A fever of stingrays.
Gaggle
A gaggle of geese (when on the ground; they go by a skein or wedge when they’re flying in their trademark v formation).
Knot
A knot of toads.
Labor
A labor of moles.
Leap
A leap of leopards.
Memory
A memory of elephants (they also go by a herd or parade).
Mob
A mob of kangaroos.
Murder
A murder of crows.
Pandemonium
A pandemonium of parrots.
Parliament
A parliament of owls.
Pod
A pod of whales.
Pride
A pride of lions.
Quiver
A quiver of cobras.
Shadow
A shadow of jaguars.
Shiver
A shiver of sharks.
Skulk
A skulk of foxes.
Stench
A stench of skunks.
Tower
A tower of giraffes.
Unkindness
An unkindness of ravens.
Zeal
A zeal of zebras.
Collective Nouns: A Rich History
It’s like I said: Some of these are outright zany, almost as though they were plucked from thin air.
However, collective nouns, as a concept, have a rich history that dates back to the Middle English period. Many were popularized by Juliana Berners, a 15th-century writer, in her work “The Book of Saint Albans.”
This book, which originated in St. Albans (a place in England), is one of the earliest references to many of the collective nouns we still use today. It literally contains a very long list of collective nouns, including such gems as a “superfluity of nuns,” but also many of the very groupings on the list above.
TL;DR: We have one woman by the name of Juliana Berners to thank for our very odd assortment of collective nouns for animals.