USGS brings us Animal Congregations, or What Do You Call a Group of…..? by Dave Fellows.
So you’re stuck on 15 down (the collective name for a group of rhinos) in today’s crossword puzzle or you are writing the definitive novel about 17th century England and you need to know what they called a group of rooks, or perhaps you are into writing poetry and want to celebrate spring with a reference to larks. Whatever the motivating factor, we have received a spate of questions on collective nouns or group names for all sorts of critters. Perhaps the following, gleaned and compiled from several sources, will help. I’ve tried to indicate proper usage for terms that apply to a specific type of assemblage or to only a single gender or age, but some of my sources were fairly general. Where my sources disagreed on spelling, I let the majority rule. This listing exhausts the meager pile of references available at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center; if the animal that you are interested in doesn’t appear here, please, please, ask someone else, because I can’t help you!
Fellows includes lists of Mammals. Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fish, and Invertebrates. Enjoy!
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