What is a collective noun?
A collective noun is a countable noun that refers to a group of people or things. There are versatile animal collective nouns that you ‘re credibly already conversant with such as ‘ a troop of sheep ’ or ‘ swarm of bees ’, but there are besides an amaze count of intriguing animal collective nouns that you may not have heard of earlier .
Collective nouns for different groups of animals:
What is a group of crows called?
Crows gather in a populace park. © P Derrett/iStock/Getty
Reading: Collective names for animals
The term ‘ a murder of crows ’ probably derives from 15th-century peasants ’ fears that these sinister-looking birds, with blue feathers and coal-black eyes, were witches in disguise or messengers of the Devil. They descended onto battlefields to pick at the fall and, with their alleged prophetic powers, they appeared on roof to portend that person inside would soon die. Their other collective nouns include ‘ throng ’, ‘ parcel ’ and ‘ drove ’ .
What is a group of wildebeest called?
Wildebeest follow the seasonal worker rains. © Lennart van den Berg/Getty The terminus ‘ a confusion of wildebeest ’ is alleged from the noise and disorientation of these animals when they gather for their colossus migration, when around two million of them unite to search for green areas. In the procedure many die in stampedes, which typically feature 500 wildebeest travel at speeds of up to 50mph and which can last for 30 minutes : chaos ensues when they dash through punic waters, as they fall prey to predators .
What is a group of geese called?
goose assemble on a grassy plain. © Dave Smith/EyeEm/Getty The term ‘ a gaggle of goose ’ has been alleged since the fifteenth hundred because when they get together they get quite noisy and bully. It ’ s entirely when they ’ re on the grind that they come in ‘ gaggles ’ ; their other corporate nouns depend on whether they ’ ve gathered on water ‘ plump ’ or flying ( ‘ skein ’, ‘ team ’ or ‘ wedge heel ’ ) : the latter two reflecting their elegant travel en masse.
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What is a group of hippos called?
Hippos, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. © DeAgostini/Getty The term ‘ a bloat of hippopotamuses ’, coined in 1939, comes from their large, indeed bloat bellies ; a male hippo weighs around 8,000lb and is covered in hypodermic fat that helps him float. Their stomachs are typically bloated from a diet about entirely of supergrass which they ingest and store for up to three weeks. A distinctive ‘ bloat ’ would consist of one male hippo amongst 10-20 females .
What is a group of apes called?
Mountain gorillas resting in Virunga Mountains, Rwanda. © Alamy The term ‘ a shrewdness of apes ’ was coined in 1486, at a time when scientists wouldn ’ t have attributed to apes the cognitive ability we now recognise in their brains and habits. ‘ Shrewdness ’ around the time of the fifteenth hundred meant loathsomeness and came from a sense of fun and mischief. however, nowadays it denotes intelligence and shrewdness. so, by a stroke of linguistic fortune, the phrase has maintained its currency .
What is a group of owls called?
A family of burrowing owl in Florida, USA. © Carlos Carreno/Getty The condition ‘ a fantan of owl ’ comes from The Chronicles of Narnia novels, written by CS Lwewis in 1950s. It ’ s a character to Chaucer ’ s poem The Parliament of Fowls, where the world ’ sulfur birds accumulate to find a checkmate. Lewis adapts Chaucer with a council of owl who meet to discuss the affairs of Narnia. Owls are thought to be wise always since the Ancient Greeks depicted the birds accompanying and representing Athena, the goddess of wisdom .
What is a group of jellyfish called?
jellyfish in a lake, Palau Micronesia. © Wendy A. Capili/Getty The terminus ‘ smuck of jellyfish ’ is most probable to have come from simpleton onomatopoeia, derived from the reasoned, like a noisy kiss, a strand jellyfish makes when it ’ s stepped on. ‘ Smuck ’, like a plastic bag wide of water being popped. They often become strand together on beaches where they dry out and die. Their other collective nouns include crowd, flower, brood, stick, smuth, pour, fluther and smack .
What is a group of woodpeckers called?
green woodpeckers will typically lone drill a nest hole in trees with soft wood. © Gert Hilbink/Getty The term ‘ A descent of woodpeckers ’, like other corporate nouns for animals, is named after their peculiar habits. The most coarse of the three autochthonal species is the park woodpecker which descends to the ground more frequently than the big spot and lesser spotted, swoops down from great heights on ants from the top of one tree to the basis of another american samoa well as moves backwards down the trunk with its head uppermost .
What is a group of starlings called?
Starlings massing at a winter roost site at twilight. © Andy Rouse/Getty The term ‘ A mutter of starlings ’ derives from the medieval Latin password for grumbling and the reference to starlings is probably derived from the sound of the identical big groups that starlings form at twilight with a mutter reckoned to comprise an ongoing setting murmur such as that caused by the beat of 10,000 pairs of wings at once. Their other corporate noun is a ‘ chatter ’ .
What is a group of bullfinches called?
A male ( left ) and female ( mighty ) bullfinch. © Pål Jakobsen/Getty The term ‘ A bellow of bullfinches ’ is the corporate noun for a bird that actually lacks a brawny flock instinct unlike many finch cousins and must derive from their inordinately thick necks ; after all the name ‘ bullfinch ’ comes from its bull-like appearance and compact, neck-less body. Its short-circuit, bass bill, when it ’ south fertilize, emits its celebrated singing with a low short whistle or fluted ‘phu ‘ note : a discrete, continuous ‘pipping ‘ sound.
What is a group of ravens called?
Raven in Bavaria, Germany. © Raimund Linke/Getty The term ‘ An unkindness of ravens ’ most probable comes from a false nineteenth hundred theory that ravens weren ’ thymine remotely caring parents, prematurely expelling their new from their nests to look after themselves. Their association with bad fortune, Halloween and death stems from their coal-black tinge, their ever-watchful eyes and their scavenge around dead things. Their early collective nouns include ‘ rave ’, ‘ perfidy ’, ‘ conspiracy ’ and the more generic ‘ flock ’ .
What is a group of turtles called?
A dunce turtle at Elafonissos Island, Greece, Europe. © Giacomo Augugliaro/Getty The condition ‘ A bale of turtles ‘ derives most likely from the shape they take when huddled together in their shells : a bale being a bombastic wrap or tie down bundle typically of paper, hay or cotton. One well-recognised feature of turtles is their desire to group and team up to stay safe. Their other corporate nouns include dole, turn, dule and nest. Linguists amongst you may know that the top part of a turtleneck ’ south shell is a carapace but not possibly that the bottom is a plastron .
What is a group of pheasants called?
Male ( tittup ) and female ( hen ) common pheasants. © JMrocek/Getty The condition ‘ A nye of pheasants ‘ derives either from a ‘ nye ’ being a corruption of ‘ an eye ’ ( being an Old English word for a grizzle ) or from the french ‘ nid ’ for nest. There are many variants in the spell including nide, nie and new york. Their other collective nouns include head, nest and nide. For more specific categorisations a brood is a kin of pheasants, a brace a pair of changeable birds and a bouquet a general gather .
What is a group of porpoises called?
A Yangtze finless porpoise swim in the Yangtze River in Yichang in cardinal China ‘s Hubei province. © Feature China/Barcroft Images/Getty The terminus ‘ A gam of porpoises ‘ derives from the word gam being both a corporate noun used besides of whales american samoa well as a nautical term for a sociable gather of two or more whaleships at sea when, after hailing each other, they exchange visits by the boats ‘ crews. Their other corporate nouns, which apply to respective other animals, are pod ( which apply to seals and hippopotamus ), herd ( to cows ) and school ( to fish ) .
What is a group of stoats called?
stoat in Kent, England, UK. © Linda Lyon/Getty Images The term ‘ A pack of stoats ‘ refers less to the notion of stoats as marauders, or to an double of them as a strong-arm gang, as to their being merely in a syndicate group in which there can be vitamin a many as twelve in a litter. A stoat is distinguishable by its black tail-tip from a weasel which besides shares the lapp corporate noun ‘ tamp down ’. Their other collective nouns include van, gang and trip .
What is a group of hawks called?
Kazakhs domesticate golden eagles and use them to hunt smaller animals such as foxes and marmots in the Altai Mountains, Mongolia. © Timothy Allen/Getty The term ‘ A hurl of peddle ‘ derives from sporting terminology in reference to birds cast from the fist in both falconry or hawk. strictly speaking the terminus relates entirely to a pair of peddle being ‘ vomit ’ ; if there were three it would be a rope. Their other collective nouns include aerie, knot, mews, shed, prison guard, stream and schizophrenia. For other specific categorisations there is boiling point ( used for two or more corkscrew in escape ) and kettle ( used when flying in large numbers ) .
What is a group of storks called?
Marabou storks feeding on fish in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. © Martin Harvey/Getty The terminus ‘ A muster of storks ‘ derives from muster meaning a general gather or forum ; while mustering is applied peculiarly to troops arranged together for an inspection the word is besides used in the animal universe for a round-up of livestock particularly in the Antipodes arsenic well as besides being one of the collective nouns used for peacocks. The other collective nouns for storks include the shorter muster vitamin a well as flight and phalanx ( used when migrating ) .
What is a group of moles called?
european gram molecule emerging from a molehill © Arterra/Contributor/Getty The term ‘ A parturiency of moles ‘ derives from the image of moles as hardworking miners toiling belowground for the common adept. indeed they have constantly been thought of adenine energetic, with both Virgil and Dryden talking of “ the blind arduous counterspy ” even if the testify of it above footing has proven an unwelcome spy to farmers causing moles to have long been regarded as vermin. Their other corporate nouns include fortress, campaign and company .
What is a group of squirrels called?
eurasian red squirrel eating nuts in the Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands. © BarbAnna/Getty The term ‘ A dray of squirrels ‘ derives from the alternate spell of the news drey which is a term for the squirrel ’ mho cuddle be it a tree squirrel, flying squirrel or bassarisk phalanger. Dreys are normally built from twigs, dry leaves, and pot and tend to be assembled in the forks of a improbable tree. The password squirrel is derived from its bushy tail which was once thought to serve as an umbrella and comes from the Greek ‘ skia ’ meaning shade and ‘ oura ’ meaning tail. Their early collective nouns include police squad, colony and scurry .
What is a group of rhinos called?
Rare Northern white rhinos in Laikipia, Kenya. © Manoj Shah/Getty
The term ‘ A crash of rhinoceroses ‘ refers to the fact that while a rhinoceros can run up to 30 miles per hour it can merely see 30 feet ahead. so when they run together in assurance and move forward at full speed they ’ ra not precisely sure what is in front of them and hence could cause a crash. As big herbivores they impact their habitat greatly spreading around seeds and disrupting the vegetation, which helps other animals in their environments. Their other collective nouns include herd and stubbornness. ad chief image : A syndicate of burrowing owl in Florida, USA. © Carlos Carreno/Getty
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Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.