Name That Flock! (“What the Flock?!?”)

Flock names can be descriptive either of a group of birds or their behavior and personalities. A flock of crows, as most of us know, is called a “murder” which relates to superstitions about crows being a harbinger of death. But what about these, a radiance, a whirl, a parliament?

Why do birds flock, anyway?

Birds flock for two main reasons: food and protection. When in a flock, it is easier for birds to detect danger since each bird can be looking in a different direction. If a predator were to attack a flock of birds, the flock’s movement might be enough to throw off or confuse the attacker, allowing the birds to flee unharmed. Finding food sources is also made easier through flocking, as each bird shares its knowledge of sources with the community. This is especially helpful in the winter when there may not be as much access to food.

Bird group names

Where did these group names come from? Science? Honestly, a biologist is unlikely to use these terms. Most flock names started in Medieval literature and were invented because of the amusing imagery that came to mind while reading or saying the terms.

The first known list of collective nouns for bird and other animal groupings is found in The Book of Saint Albans (also known as The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms) a book on “interests of gentlemen,” published in 1486. The section “Book of Hunting” has a list of “The Companyes of bestys & foules.”

Here’s where it gets a little tricky.

Counting birds can provide insight. Typically, a mere two or three birds do not constitute a flock. However, there is no established minimum number of birds required to classify a group as a flock. Generally, larger groups are consistently regarded as flocks, whereas smaller groups may be considered flocks if the birds are not frequently observed in groups. For instance, sociable birds like gulls, ducks, and starlings are frequently observed in sizable groups, thus a mere half dozen of these birds congregating together would not typically be referred to as a flock. Conversely, less social birds such as hummingbirds or grosbeaks would be classified as a flock even if only a few birds were present, as they are much less inclined to gather in larger groups.

Flock

/fläk/

noun: flock; plural noun: flocks

a number of birds of one kind feeding, resting, or traveling together.

“a flock of gulls”

Just to make things a bit more confusing, some bird flocks share the same name or have multiple names while others are mostly solitary and rarely seen in flocks. For those who are curious about what names are assigned to flocks of birds, such a “bevy of quails,” I’ve assembled this wacky, fun list.

Bitterns: sedge or siege

Bobolinks: chain

Buzzards: wake

Cardinals: college, conclave, radiance, or Vatican

Catbirds: mewing

Chickadees: banditry

Coots: cover

Cormorants: flight, sunning or swim

Cowbirds: corral or herd

Cranes: sedge, siege or dance

Crows: murder, congress, cauldron or storytelling

Curlews: herd

Doves: cote, dole, flight or piteousness

Ducks: brace, flush, raft or paddling

Eagles: aerie or convocation

Emus: mob

Finches: charm

Flamingos: flamboyance or stand

Frigatebirds: fleet or flotilla

Geese: gaggle

Goldfinches: charm, treasury, vein, rush or trembling

Godwits: prayer or pantheon

Grosbeaks: gross

Grouse: covey or pack

Gulls: colony, squabble, flotilla or gullery

Hawks: aerie, cast or kettle

Herons: hedge, sedge, scattering or siege

Hummingbirds: charm, glittering, bouquet or hover

Jays: band, party or scold

Kingbirds: coronation, court or tyranny

Knots: cluster

Lapwings: deceit

Larks: ascension, happiness or exaltation

Loons: asylum or cry

Magpies: tiding

Mallards: sord or flush

Nightingales: watch

Owls: parliament, bazaar, study or wisdom

Painted Buntings: mural or palette

Parrots: company, prattle or pandemonium

Partridges: covey

Peacocks: muster or ostentation

Pelicans: squadron, pod of scoop

Penguins: colony, waddle, rookery, huddle, parcel or crèche

Phalaropes: swirl, twirl, whirl or whirligig

Pheasants: covey, bevy or bouquet

Pigeons: flight

Plovers: congregation or wing

Ptarmigans: covey

Quail: bevy, battery, flush, drift, rout or covey

Ravens: conspiracy, unkindness or storytelling

Roadrunners: race or marathon

Sapsuckers: slurp

Skimmers: scoop

Snipes: walk or wisp

Sparrows: host, quarrel, knot, flutter or crew

Starlings: murmuration, chattering, affliction, scourge or constellation

Storks: muster or mustering

Swallows: flight or gulp

Swans: bevy, ballet, regatta, lamentation or herd

Teals: spring

Terns: cotillion

Turkeys: rafter, gobble, gang or posse

Vultures: colony, committee, venue or wake

Warblers: confusion, wrench or fall

Wigeons: raft

Woodcocks: fall

Woodpeckers: descent or drumming

Wrens: herd or chime

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Ross A. Feldner, RCC Board Member

Ross Feldner is the lead, with Bob Musil, of the RCC Bird Watch and Wonder Program. Ross is a life-long birder and photographer who is the editor of the Friends of Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge newsletter. Ross also serves as a guide at the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, a frequent birding spot for Rachel Carson who first learned about the health effects of DDT at the laboratory there. He is also the owner/art director of New Age Graphics, a full-service graphic design firm in Wheaton, MD.