We took a wonderful drive around the region. Spotted a group of 'gansers at Port Sandfield.
I'm not truly sure what you call them, but they were most disgruntled that I was walking on their quiet dock. Like us, the shoulder seasons are best when things are quiet!They all took off, delighting me, but complicating the amateur camera work. Oiy-vee!
But I spotted a Gaggle of Geese near Red Leaves. (See below!)
I must admit that a 'Murder of Crows' remains my favourite collective noun. These guys were all jumping over themselves to get away from me!What does one call a collection of merganzers?
"The collective nouns for different groups of birds can be a fun bit of birding lingo to use when describing what you see in the field."
Here is a list, from Melissa Mayntz, in an article she wrote for About.com Birding.
•Birds of Prey (hawks, falcons): Cast, cauldron, kettle
•Cormorants: Flight
•Crows: Murder, congress, horde
•Ducks: Raft, team, paddling
•Eagles: Convocation, congregation
•Finches: Charm
•Flamingos: Flamboyance
•Geese: Skein, wedge, gaggle, plump
•Gulls: Colony
•Herons: Siege, sedge, scattering
•Hummingbirds: Charm
•Jays: Band, party, scold
•Larks: Bevy, exaltation, ascension
•Owls: Parliament, wisdom, study
•Pelicans: Squadron, pod, scoop
•Penguins: Colony, huddle
•Pheasants: Nye, bevy, bouquet
•Plovers: Congregation : Host, quarrel, knot •Starlings: Chattering, affliction
•Swallows: Flight, gulp
•Swans: Wedge, ballet, lamentation
•Woodpeckers: Descent
•Wrens: Herd
•Ravens: Murder, congress, horde
•Rooks: Clamour, parliament
•Sparrows, chime
Non-flying- visit them here
or you are REALLY serious about this...
There are also some terms for pairs of animals and groups of three animals.
For more:
I prefer the wonderful poem, by the late Willard R. Espy (1910 - 1999), as printed in his terrific poetry book, Words to Rhyme With, to sum up the offspring of creatures. If you are a serious poet, or want to stretch the brain cells, buy this book. I love it!
A PUP BY ANY OTHER NAME
Ah, Chloe, the animal kingdom's a-teem
For a cow has a calf, but the calf of a mare
Is a foal, and a cub is the foal of a bear;
A fawn is the cub of a deer, while the fawn
Of a beaver's a kitten; and, carrying on,
The kit of a sheep is a lamb, and the lamb
Of a wolf is a whelp, while the whelp of a Madame
Is a babe, and the babe of a dog is a pup,
And I thought for a while this would wind the thing up,
But the pup of a goat is a kid, and--ah, Chloe--
What else is a kangaroo's kid but a joey?
Such a lovely bird, the mourning dove!
