Today we’ll be talking about collective nouns denoting groups of animals. So, without further ado, let’s just jump in.
Table of Contents
General Collective Nouns
Let’s start with some general collective nouns. So, here we go:
a menagerie – a collection of animals kept especially to be shown to the public
a menagerie of wild animals, rare creatures
Here are some collective nouns used with young animals:
a litter – a group of young animals that are born at a single time
a litter of cubs, puppies, piglets
a brood – a group of young birds (such as chickens) that were all born at the same time
a brood of chicks
Here are some collective nouns that are also pretty general, so they may be used with different groups of animals:
a herd – a group of animals that live or are kept together
a herd of cattle, horses, elephants
a flock – a group of birds or animals (such as sheep)
a flock of sheep, birds
a troop – a flock of mammals or birds
a troop of lions, monkeys, cormorants
a band – a group of animals
a band of coyotes, gorillas
a colony – a group of animals and other living creatures that live or grow in one place
a colony of gulls, ants, bacteria
an army – a great multitude
an army of ants, birds
A Shared Feature
Next, there are collective nouns used for groups of animals that share some specific feature:
a pack – a group of usually wild animals that hunt together
a pack of wolves, wild dogs
a drove – a large group of animals that move or act together
a drove of horses, cattle
a team – a group of two or more animals used to pull a wagon, cart, etc.
a team of oxen, horses, dogs
a caravan – a group of animals traveling together on a long journey especially through the desert
a caravan of camels
A Specific Group Of Animals
There are quite a few collective nouns that are used, or at least primarily used, for a specific group of animals. Here are some that are used for aquatic animals:
a school – a large group of fish or other ocean animals that are swimming together
a school of whales, dolphins, fish
a pod – a group of ocean animals (such as whales) that are swimming together
a pod of whales, dolphins
a shoal – a large group or number of animals
a shoal of fish
a haul – the quantity of fish taken in a single draft of a net
a haul of fish
a catch – an amount of fish that has been caught
a catch of fish
Here are some collective nouns used for birds:
a flight – a group of similar birds that are flying through the air together
a flight of birds, geese
a skein – a flock of wildfowl (such as geese or ducks) in flight
a skein of wildfowl, wild geese, ducks in flight
Next, some nouns that are usually used with insects:
a swarm – a very large number of insects moving together
a swarm of bees, mosquitoes, locusts
a cloud – a large group of things (such as insects) that move together through the air
a cloud of insects, bees
A Specific Animal Species
Finally, there are some nouns that are always or almost always used with a specific animal species. Here are some used with mammals:
a pride – a group of lions
a pride of lions
a string – the animals and especially horses belonging to or used by one individual
a string of horses
a stud – a group of animals and especially horses kept primarily for breeding
a stud of horses
a skulk – a group of foxes
a skulk of foxes
a clowder – a group of cats
a clowder of cats
And here are some used with birds:
a gaggle – a group of geese
a gaggle of geese
a bevy – a group of animals and especially quail
a bevy of quail
a murder – a flock of crows
a murder of crows
