101 Animal Group Names: A List From A to Z

Owls
A parliament of burrowing owls in Florida.

Tania Thomson / Shutterstock

You're probably familiar with a school of fish or colony of ants, but have you heard of a shrewdness of apes? Animal group names highlight a fascinating aspect of animal behavior: From social butterflies to solitary scavengers, virtually all animals gather into groups at some point in their lives.

Whatever draws them together, something odd happens when creatures form crowds: They suddenly have bizarre, often silly names. Drawing from Medieval hunting traditions, literature, and even scientific observations, these animal group names aren't often used, even by scientists, but they nonetheless represent our own species' collective creativity for linguistics—not to mention our deep-rooted affinity for nature.

Naming a group of martens as a "richness" or starlings as a "murmuration" shows an appreciation and respect for these animals. Even when the names are less flattering, such as an "obstinacy of buffalo" or an "unkindness of ravens," they still reflect a recognition and respect for the animals that share our world.

Why Do Animals Gather in Groups?

Safety in numbers is one reason since a pack of prey is less vulnerable to attack by predators, but many animals also rely on collective wisdom to help them make better decisions. Some even blur the line between individual and group, while others limit their social time to mating season.

Without further ado, here are 101 of the strangest collective names for animals:

Mammals and Marsupials

ring-tailed lemurs
A conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs.

Bas Czerwinski / AFP / Getty Images

  • Apes: a shrewdness
  • Badgers: a cete or colony
  • Bats: a cauldron
  • Bears: a sloth or sleuth
  • Buffalo: a gang or obstinacy
  • Cats: a clowder, pounce, or glaring; for kittens: a kindle, litter, or intrigue
  • Dogs: a litter (puppies), pack (wild), or cowardice (curs)
  • Donkeys: a pace
  • Elephants: a parade
  • Elk: a gang
  • Ferrets: a business
  • Fox: a leash, skulk, or earth
  • Giraffes: a tower
  • Goats: a tribe or trip
  • Gorillas: a band
  • Hippopotamuses: a bloat or thunder
  • Hyenas: a cackle
  • Jaguars: a shadow
  • Kangaroos: a troop or mob
  • Lemurs: a conspiracy
  • Leopards: a leap
  • Lions: a pride or sawt
  • Martens: a richness
  • Moles: a labor
  • Monkeys: a troop or barrel
  • Mules: a pack, span, or barren
  • Otters: a romp
  • Pigs: a drift, drove, sounder, team, or passel
  • Porcupines: a prickle
  • Porpoises: a pod, school, herd, or turmoil
  • Rabbits: a colony, warren, nest, down, husk, or herd (domestic only)
  • Rhinoceroses: a crash
  • Squirrels: a dray or scurry
  • Tigers: an ambush or streak
  • Whales: a pod, gam, or herd
  • Wolves: a pack, rout, or route (when in movement)

Birds

peacocks against a blue sky
An ostentation of Indian peacocks.

Shah Marai / AFP / Getty Images

  • Bitterns: a sedge
  • Buzzards: a wake
  • Bobolinks: a chain
  • Coots: a cover
  • Cormorants: a gulp
  • Crows: a murder or horde
  • Dotterel: a trip
  • Doves: a dule or pitying (specific to turtle doves)
  • Ducks: a brace, team, flock (in flight), raft (on water), paddling, or badling
  • Eagles: a convocation
  • Finches: a charm
  • Flamingos: a stand
  • Geese: a flock, gaggle (on the ground), or skein (in flight)
  • Grouse: a pack (in late season)
  • Hawks: a cast, kettle (in flight), or boil (two or more spiraling in the air)
  • Herons: a sedge or siege
  • Jays: a party or scold
  • Lapwings: a deceit
  • Larks: an exaltation
  • Mallards: a sord (in flight) or brace
  • Magpies: a tiding, gulp, murder, or charm
  • Nightingales: a watch
  • Owls: a parliament
  • Parrots: a pandemonium or company
  • Partridge: a covey
  • Peafowl: an ostentation or muster
  • Penguins: a colony, muster, parcel, or rookery
  • Pheasant: a nest, nide (a brood), nye, or bouquet
  • Plovers: a congregation or wing (in flight)
  • Ptarmigans: a covey
  • Rooks: a building
  • Quail: a bevy or covey
  • Ravens: an unkindness
  • Snipe: a walk or wisp
  • Sparrows: a host
  • Starlings: a murmuration
  • Storks: a mustering
  • Swans: a bevy, game, or wedge (in flight)
  • Teal: a spring
  • Turkeys: a rafter or gang
  • Woodcocks: a fall
  • Woodpeckers: a descent

Reptiles and Amphibians

two Himalayan newts, Tylototriton verrucosus, also known as crocodile salamanders
A maelstrom of crocodile salamanders. Tanes Ngamsom / Shutterstock
  • Cobras: a quiver
  • Crocodiles: a bask
  • Frogs: an army
  • Toads: a knot
  • Turtles: a bale or nest
  • Salamanders: a maelstrom
  • Snakes, vipers: a nest

Fish

hammerhead sharks near the Galapagos Islands
A shiver of hammerhead sharks. Janos Rautonen / Shutterstock
  • Fish in general: a draft, nest, run, school or shoal
  • Herring: an army
  • Sharks: a shiver
  • Trout: a hover

Invertebrates

jellyfish, Mastigias papua etpisonii, at a marine lake in Palau
A fluther of golden jellyfish. Ethan Daniels / Shutterstock
  • Bees: a grist, hive, or swarm
  • Caterpillars: an army
  • Clams: a bed
  • Crabs: a consortium
  • Cockroaches: an intrusion
  • Flies: a business
  • Grasshoppers: a cloud
  • Jellyfish: a bloom, fluther, or smack
  • Lobsters: a risk
  • Oysters: a bed
  • Snails: a hood
  • Squid: an audience
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