English has some seriously weird names for groups of animals. A group of fish is a ‘school.’ A group of birds is a ‘flock.’ But things get strange after that!
The Weirdest Group Names
🦉 A parliament of owls
🦒 A tower of giraffes
🦓 A dazzle of zebras
🐺 A pack of wolves
🐘 A parade of elephants
🦊 A skulk of foxes
🐳 A pod of whales
🐧 A colony of penguins (or a ‘waddle’ on land!)
🦘 A mob of kangaroos
🐬 A pod of dolphins
The Weirdest of the Weird
🐦 A murder of crows (creepy!)
🐺 A cackle of hyenas
🦃 A gobble of turkeys
🦔 An array of hedgehogs
🐹 A mischief of mice
🦛 A bloat of hippopotamuses
The Cutest Group Names
🐼 An embarrassment of pandas
🦦 A romp of otters (when in water)
🦦 A raft of otters (when floating together)
Where Did These Names Come From?
Many were invented in medieval England as hunting terms — over 500 years ago! Hunters created clever names for animal groups, and many of them stuck.
Today, scientists still use them. Imagine writing a scientific paper that says ‘we observed a parliament of owls’! 📚
Pick your favorite — and try using it in a sentence today!
