Wondering what to call a group of animals or the so-called collective nouns for animals? You’re not alone.
While some names for groups of animals are pretty common, like a flock of birds, others are quite unusual and even hilarious.
The first register of collective nouns for animals goes back to the 15th century in the Book of Saint Albans. The book is so interesting that it even has collective nouns not only for animals but also for humans.
Either way, whether you want to learn how to call certain groups of animals or want to discover funny animal groups’ names, this post is for you.
Without further ado, let’s learn the collective names of animals!
Collective Nouns for Animals: Animal Groups Names
Here are the animal names, along with their animal group names.
Names for Groups of Amphibians
Frogs – army
Salamanders – herd or congress
Toads – knot or knab
Names for Groups of Arachnids
Scorpions – bed or nest
Spiders – cluster or clutter
Names for Groups of Birds
Below are some names for groups of birds, but you can find a detailed article with many other collective nouns for birds here.
Choughs – clattering
Coots – covert
Cranes – sedge
Crows – murder
Doves – dule
Ducks – paddling, brace, or team
Dunlins – fling (when in flight)
Eagles – convocation
Emus – mob
Falcons – cast
Finches – charm
Flamingos – flamboyance
Fowl – plump, trip, or skein (when in flight)
Geese – gaggle, flock, or skein (when in flight)
Goldfinches – charm
Grouse – brace, covey, or pack
Hawks – cast or kettle
Herons – siege
Lapwings – desert
Larks – exaltation or ascension
Magpies – tittering or tiding
Mallards – sord
Nightingales – watch
Owls – parliament
Parrots – pandemonium
Partridges – covey
Peacocks – muster or ostentation
Penguins – colony
Pheasants – nest, nide, or bouquet
Pigeons – flock or flights
Plovers – congregations or wing
Quails – bevy
Ravens – unkindness
Ruffs – hill
Seagulls – flock
Sheldrake – dropping
Snipe – walk or wisp
Sparrows – host
Starlings – murmuration
Storks – mustering
Swans – wedge (when in flight), a bevy, or lamentation
Teal – spring or string
Turkeys – posse, rafter, or gang
Vultures – venue
Waterfowl – bunch, knob, or raft (on water)
Woodcocks – fall
Woodpeckers – descent
Names for Groups of Fish
Bass – shoal
Fish – school, run, shoal, catch, or haul
Goldfish – troubling
Minnows – steam
Sharks – shiver
Stingrays – fever
Trout – hover
Names for Groups of Insects
Ants – colony or army
Bees – bike, drift, hive, or swarm
Butterflies – flight or wing
Caterpillars – army
Cockroaches – intrusion
Flies – swarm
Gnats – cloud or horde
Grasshoppers – cloud
Locusts – plague or cloud
Mosquitoes – scourge
Termites – colony or swarm (when in flight)
Wasps – pledge
Names for Groups of Invertebrates
Clams – bed
Jellyfish – smack or brood
Oysters – bed
Snails – escargatoire, rout, or walk
Names for Groups of Mammals
Antelopes – herd
Apes – shrewdness
Baboons – troop
Badgers – cete
Bats – colony
Bears – sloth (or sleuth) | Cubs – litter
Beavers – colony
Boar – sounder
Buffalo – gang, herd, or obstinacy
Camels – caravan
Cheetahs – coalition
Coyotes – band
Deer – herd
Dolphins – pod
Donkeys – drove
Echidnas – parade
Elephants – parade or herd
Elk – gang or herd
Ferrets – business
Foxes – leash or skulk
Fur seals – harem
Giraffes – tower or herd
Gorillas – band
Hares – down or husk
Hedgehogs – array
Hippopotami – bloat or thunder
Hogs – drift or parcel
Hyenas – cackle
Jaguars – shadow
Kangaroos – mob or troop
Kittens – kindle
Lemurs – conspiracy
Leopards – leap
Lions – pride
Manatees – aggregation
Mares – stud
Martens – richness
Mice – mischief or nest
Moles – labor
Monkeys – troop, barrel, or cartload
Otters – raft, romp, or family
Pandas – cupboard or embarrassment
Platypus – paddle
Polar bears – aurora
Porcupines – prickle
Porpoises – herd, pod, or school
Prairie dogs – coterie
Rabbits – colony or warren
Raccoons – gaze
Rats – colony, pack, or swarm
Rhinoceroses – crash
Roes – bevy
Rooks – building or parliament
Seals – plump, spring, colony, or harem
Sheep – flock
Skunks – stench
Squirrels – scurry or dray
Tigers – streak or ambush
Walrus – herd or pod
Wallabies – mob
Weasels – pack, colony, or gang
Whales – gam, school, or pod
Wild cats – destruction
Wolves – pack or route
Wombats – wisdom
Zebras – zeal
Names for Groups of Reptiles
Cobras – quiver
Crocodiles – bask or float
Lizards – lounge
Rattlesnakes – rhumba
Snakes – nest or knot
Turtles – bale or nest
Vipers – nest
Names for Groups of Domestic Animals
Cats – clowder, glaring, pounce, or nuisance | Kittens – litter or kindle
Cattle – herd or drove
Chickens – brood or peep | Chicks – clutch or chattering
Cows – kine, drove, herd, or fold | Twelve or more cows are a flink
Dogs – litter or cowardice | Puppies – litter
Donkeys – pace
Goats – herd, tribe, or trip
Greyhounds – leach
Horses – harras or team
Hounds – mute, cry, or pack
Mules – pack, span, or barren
Oxen – team or yoke
Pigs – drift or drove (younger pigs), or sounder, team, or litter (older pigs)
Ponies – string
Turkeys – rafter or gang
Yaks – herd
Group Names For Animals In Written Context
Now that you know the collective nouns for animals of the most diverse classes, you can start showing off your knowledge or finish your homework.
To do that, you write first the collective noun for that animal + the plural name of the animal. Example:
- A crash of rhinoceroses
- A sloth of bears
- A shrewdness of apes
- A richness of martens
- An obstinacy of buffalos
- A litter of kittens
- An army of caterpillars
- An army of ants
- A flock of geese
- A litter of cubs
- A brace of ducks OR a paddling of ducks
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