Collective Names for Animals

We were thinking recently how many strange names there are for collections of animals.  Many of these date back to the Middle Ages and though some of them are rather humorous there are many that are definitely part of everyday language, such as herd, pack or flock.  Here are a few of our favourite and more unusual animal collective names:

• A congregation of alligators
• An army of ants (or colony, or swarm)
• A shrewdness of apes
• A troop of baboons
• A battery of barracudas
• A sloth of bears (or sleuth)
• An obstinancy of buffalo
• A flutter of butterflies
• A caravan of camels
• An army of caterpillars
• A clowder of cats (put we also like a pounce of cats)
• A kindle of kittens
• A coalition of cheetahs
• A quiver of cobras
• An intrusion of cockroaches
• A gulp of cormorants
• A band of coyotes
• A murder of crows
• A pod of dolphins
• A cry of hound dogs
• A piteousness of turtle doves
• A convocation of eagles
• A fry of eels
• A mob of emus
• A charm of finches
• A flamboyance of flamingos
• A knot of frogs
• A skulk of foxes
• A tower of giraffes
• An implausibility of gnus
• A tribe of goats
• A glint of goldfish
• A bazaar of guillemots
• A screech of gulls
• A confusion of guinea fowls
• A kettle of hawks
• An array of hedgehogs
• A bloat of hippopotamuses
• A cackle of hyenas
• A plague of insects
• A smack of jellyfish
• A deceit of lapwings
• An exaltation of larks
• A leap of leopards
• A lounge of lizards
• A gulp of magpies
• A mischief of mice
• A scourge of mosquitoes
• A watch of nightingales
• A romp of otters
• A pandemonium of parrots
• An ostentation of peacocks
• A prickle of porcupines
• A gaze of raccoons
• A rhumba of rattlesnakes
• An unkindness of ravens
• A stubbornness of rhinoceroses
• A congress of salamanders
• A shiver of sharks
• A scurry of squirrels
• A murmuration of starlings
• A fever of stingrays
• A mutation of thrush
• An ambush of tigers
• A wisdom of wombats
• A dazzle of zebras

This is just a selection of the weird and wonderful collection names for animals.  It’s virtually impossible to choose a favourite but we must admit that the thought of a group of rattlesnakes doing a rhumba does make us giggle.

Let us know if you have a favourite!