Many years ago, when I first encountered different names for different groups in English, I was really shocked. I had never imagined a “group” of birds is any different from a “group” of wild dogs before, and it took me a while to adapt. Here I use quotes on “group” because they are not supposed be called “group”. They are supposed to be called a flock of birds and a pack of wild dogs. Then the things get interesting. Sometimes they can be used interchangeably and sometimes they cannot. It all depends on the whim of the language that is beyond my comprehension. For example, herd can be used on sheep, but cannot be used on goats. Pack can be used on dogs, wolfs, but not lions. Troop can be used on monkeys and humans, but not on any other animals. Why? Don’t ask me. I have long since stopped asking why and resigned myself to the inevitability, no matter how strange I think it is.
Here is a list of just a few of these and I think there are a lot more that I don’t know. And please let me know if you have encountered any that’s on or not on this list.
pack: a group of wild animals, especially wolves, living and hunting together.
school or shoal: a group of fish.
colony: a group of bacteria derived from the same mother cell
flock: a number of birds of one kind feeding, resting, or traveling together.
bed: a bed of clams
bevy: a group of birds, especially quail, particularly when closely gathered on the ground.
covey: a mature bird or pair of birds with a brood of young
pride: a group of lions forming a social unit.
swarm: a large number grouped together and usually in motion
herd: a large group of animals, especially hoofed mammals, that live, feed, or migrate together or are kept together as livestock.
If you think there are too many words for groups to describe animals, wait until you see the different names to describe a group of people. It is an endless list. I can only list a few. There are so many others. If you have encountered or used any, please give me a comment.
crew: a group of people who work on and operate a ship, boat, aircraft, spacecraft, or train. They are basically a group of colleagues and coworkers.
troupe: a group of dancers, actors, or other entertainers who tour to different venues.
troop: soldiers or armed forces. From the smallest unit to the biggest, there are platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, corps.
clique: a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.
posse: a body of men, typically armed, summoned by a sheriff to enforce the law.
throng: a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals. This is not to be confused with thong, which is one of the uncomfortable garments the world cannot stop inventing for women.
coterie: a small group of people with shared interests or tastes, especially one that is exclusive of other people.
fraternity and sorority: a group of people sharing a common profession or interests. Usually it has a Greek name, for some inexplicable reason and it is very popular on college campuses.
clan: a group of close-knit and interrelated families
sect: a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs (typically regarded as heretical) from those of a larger group to which they belong
Haoyan Do 
Group of crows is called a murder- that’s one of my favourite ones, It’s interesting how they have words for groups like this.
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Yes, how interesting. I wonder who came up with the word “murder” for crow? LOL.
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Lol I have no idea but they were so on point with it.
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Poor crows. They also have another name like corvid, which is pointed out by “Third Culture Kid Can”. The crows are not lucky with names.
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Wow people really don’t like crows…
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In some cultures, it is said crows bring bad news, which is completely irrational. I feel that crows are very unfairly treated. It’s just another bird.
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Yeah a lot of people are superstitious about crows but obviously they’re just a bird and have nothing to do with luck or your life.
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I think just behaving the same as other birds is not good enough for crows. Poor crows have to do something extraordinary in order to be accepted as an ordinary bird.
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Aww poor them 😢
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yes, I agree.
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I know there is a murder of crows and also ravens. I only just came up with a term for a group of magpies: a corvid party. They zoom together and it’s a superspreader event. Plus, they have corvid tests. Get all the references?
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How could anybody use “murder” on poor crows and ravens? That’s so unfair. LOL. Corvid is so close to covid. That’s cute. The poor crow family just can’t have a break from scandalous names.
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It must have to do with folklore. The way I see it is that corvids already had parties before humans came along and messed it up, so they are trying to reclaim it
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Good for the crows and other corvids. They have been villanized enough.
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Definitely! Plus, it’s nice to make pandemic puns and laugh about it. I feed the magpies in my area and they are amazing!
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Magpies are so beautiful. They almost look fluorescent. LOL. I am very bad with puns, but I love them despite the fact that they don’t love me back. LOL. I blame Amazon Alexa, who has never given me one worthy pun so far.
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Interesting collection.
According to this article in “Country Life” …..
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/nature/collective-nouns-for-birds-68344
….. there is a collective noun for almost every species of bird! Some of them I’d heard of before, but most I hadn’t. “An Unkibdness of Ravens” is the title of a novel by Ruth Rendell.
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OMG. Please tell me this is not true. This is really stretching our welcome for more words. LOL. One for every species? That’s so unbelievable. So the word “flock”, “covey” are not enough. I just googled and the word “unkibdness” really exist. Well, I give up my battle with words.
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Murder: pack of crows
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Wow, murder is used here. How unfair to the crows.
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Collective nouns is what all of these terms refer to and can be kind of humorous, sometimes but to a non-native speaker I wouldn’t expect a person to get it. You actually have done well on these. It’s not always important to know and sometimes there are several and none of them make sense. If you aren’t sure you get usually get by with just saying, “I saw large number of — on the way to work this morning” and most people won’t notice.
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LOL. That’s so true. I often miss the puns and innuendos that the native speakers relish. I have to say English has an unusual amount of them… Yes, large number will solve the problem…
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Yeah, it is inconsistent how groups are named. Why a pride of lions and not a pack? Who knows?
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LOL. Groups are whimsical to say the list. I hope the group madness can be reduced to minimum whatever creatures they are.
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A pack of lies but a pride of lions!
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“Pack” is unfairly reviled. LOL.
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The Green Bay Packers are beloved, at least in the state of Wisconsin.
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Yes, that’s true. LOL.
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