If I left anything out, please let me know in the comments below. This list is may prove essential, however, if you are writing and want to use terms with more flare. Your friends (and even teachers) might give you weird looks if you use these terms when speaking. " rather than the names on this list, since most of these terms are archaic and aren't very widely known. In most instances, you'll want to use "a group of. There you have it, folks! You'll never have to guess as to which group name is correct again. Originally, these nouns were used primarily as hunting terms, but they have since extended into the everyday vernacular. This book, written by a nun named Juliana Barnes, covered the topics of hunting, fishing, and coats of arms, and it also included the first-ever list of collective nouns for every type of animal one could possibly imagine. Some of these animals are solitary, so it is ironic that they have group names dedicated to their kind when they are rarely found in groups.Īnimal group names date back to medieval times when a list of collective terms for animals first appeared in The Book of Saint Albans, printed in 1486. My friend Lawrence's cousin, Ziyad, was there. On May 10, 1998, I walked into my best friend's store, just like I did every other day. The more I struggled to speak, the less power the rape and its aftermath seemed to have over me' - Nancy Venable Raine. Mallards: brace or sord (when in flight) ' Speaking.slowly freed me from the shame I'd felt.Hawks: cast, kettle (when in flight), or boil (when there are two or more spiraling in air).Geese: flock, gaggle (when on the ground), or skein (when in flight).Ducks: brace, team, flock (when in flight), raft (when on water), paddling, or badling.Doves: dule or pitying (used only for turtle doves).Crows: murder, horde, unkindness, or conspiracy.Ingrid Taylar, CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr Birds Wolves: pack, rout, or route (when in movement)Ī group of crows is referred to as "a murder.".Squirrels: scurry or dray (a mother and her babies in a nest).Raccoons: gaze, boars (group of males), sows (group of females).Rabbits: colony, nest, warren, husk, down, or herd.Porpoises: turmoil, pod, school, or herd.Polar Bears: pack, aurora, or celebration.Pigs: drift, drove, sounder, team, or passel.A group of pandas is referred to as "an embarrassment."