Many people know that a
group of birds can be called either a flock or colony, but little do they know
you can also call a group of geese a gaggle, or a group of loons an
asylum. Birds by themselves are
called by their species name, but when you get a group of them together we like
to refer to them as a whole.
The origin of many
collective nouns for animals can be traced back to the 15th century to one of
the first published books, The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms
(also known as The Book of
Saint Albans) by Dame Juliana
Barnes (1486).
It is unknown if
Barnes coined these terms herself, or rather recorded the terms that were
considered proper at the time. The
section on hunting contains the list of special collective nouns for animals,
which are rarely used today, with some exceptions that have been resurrected in
the last 100 years or so.
A murmuration of Starlings (photo: wikipedia)
The animal group names
typically refer to a particular behavior the animals have when they are
gathered together. A group of
flamingos is called a flamboyance for their brightly colored feathers and
elaborate/showy display when walking together. A group of starlings is called a murmuration (murmur: a
low/indistinct, continuous sound) for their highly social roosting behavior that
can number in the thousands.
A group of raptors can be
called either a cauldron or kettle due to the tendency of birds circling in a
thermal updraft, to communicate, gain altitude to help their daily movements, and conserve strength for either upcoming hunting or
migration. A group of falcons or
hawks can be called a cast (falconers term for flying multiple birds together),
while a group of eagles is called a convocation (a large formal assembly), and
a group of owls is called a parliament (a discussion; a group of people who
meet to discuss matters of state).
While some of the group
names are silly (a gulp of cormorants) some have more serious origins (like a
murder of crows). Most of these
terms are rarely used today, even in science, but they embody our linguistic
ingenuity and affinity for nature and its' beauty.
Submitted by William
(Derek) Oberbeck III, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Trainer
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