List of English terms of venery, by animal

A skein of geese

This is a list of English terms of venery (venery being an archaic word for hunting), comprising terms from a tradition that arose in the Late Middle Ages, at least partly from the Book of Saint Albans of 1486. The list also includes more common collective terms (such as "herd" and "flock") for some animals.

Contents 

Standard terms for particular groups are listed first in each group and shown in bold.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Subject Collective noun Notes Sources
A
antelopes herd [1]
ants army [2]
colony [2][3]
nest [2]
swarm [2]
apes shrewdness [1][4][5]
troop [2]
asses herd [2]
drove driven in a group [2]
pace or passe [2][3]
B
baboons troop [2][5]
badgers cete [2][3][5][6]
bats colony [3]
bears sleuth or sloth [2][3][5]
beavers colony [2]
family [2]
bees swarm [5]
drift [5]
erst [5]
grist [3]
birdsflock [5]
flight [5]
pod [5]
bitterns sedge or sege [3][4][7][8]
boars (wild boars) sounder 12 or more [6]
buffalo herd [3][5]
bullfinches bellowing [5]
bullocks drove driven in a group [5]
butterflies swarm [9]
flutter [10]
C
capercaillie tok [11]
capons mews [12]
caribou herd [12]
cats clowder [2][3]
pounce [3]
wild cats (feral cats) destruction [5][13]
cattle mobdriven in a group [14]
chickens clutch [5]
choughs chattering or clattering [4][5][6][15][16]
colts rag [3][5][6]
rake [5]
cormorants gulp [3]
coots covert [4][5][8]
coyotes pack
cranes herd [4][5][8]
sedge or sege [3][7]
crocodiles bask [3]
crows murder [3][5][6]
curlews herd [4][5][6][8]
D
deer herd [17]
parcel [18]
dogs pack [17]
dolphins pod [19][20]
dotterel trip [3][5][17][21]
doves dole or dule fanciful [3][4][5][17]
flight [8]
ducks badling or badelynge [3][8]
paddling on water [3][5][17]
plump [22][23]
raft on water [3][5][17]
dunlins fling [5]
E
eaglesconvocation [3]
eels bed [2]
elephants herd [3]
elk gang [5][6]
herd [5]
F
falcons cast [24]
ferrets business corruption over time of 'busyness' [3][6]
busyness [4]
besyness
fesynes
fesnyng
feamyng
ghost words arising from successive misspellings of "busyness" [25]
finches charm or chirm [3][5]
fish school [3]
shoal [3]
flamingoes stand [3]
flamboyance [26]
flies business [3]
foxes leash [3]
skulk [3]
frogs army [3]
G
geese flock on land [3][27]
gaggle on land [3][8][27]
skein in flight [3][27]
giraffes herd [27]
gnats cloud [3][5][27]
horde [3][27]
goats flock [27]
goldfinches charm [8][27]
goosanders dopping [27]
gorillas band [3][27]
goshawks flight [4][27]
grasshoppers cloud [3][27]
grouse covey [5][27]
guineafowl rasp [28]
H
hares down [29]
drove [29]
flick [29]
husk [29]
harts herd [29]
hawks boil two or more spiralling in flight [3]
cast [3][4][5]
kettle flying in large numbers [3]
lease [4]
hedgehogs array [29]
hens brood [8]
herons sedge or sege [3][4][6][7][8][29]
siege [3][5][29]
hippopotamuses bloat [3][29]
hogs parcel See also boars, pigs, swine [30][31]
hornets bike [29]
nest [3]
swarm [29]
horses team in harness [3][29]
haras or harrase [3][29]
herd [29]
stable [29]
string [3][29]
stud [3][29]
hounds pack [29]
cry [29]
hunt [29]
meet [29]
mute [29]
stable [29]
hyenas cackle [3]
I
ibex herd [32]
ibises colony [32]
iguanas mess [32]
insects flight [32]
horde [32]
plague [32]
rabble [32]
swarm [32]
J
jackdaws clattering [33]
train [33][34]
jays party [3]
scold [3]
jellyfish fluther [5]
smack [3][5]
K
kangaroos mob [2]
troop [2][3]
kittens kindle [5]
L
lapwings deceit or desert [3][4][5][6][35]
larks bevy [5]
exaltation [4][5][6][8]
leopards leap or lepe [2][3][5]
lions pride [2][3][5]
sawt [5]
locusts plague [3]
M
mackerel shoal [36]
magpies charm [3]
congregation [36]
gulp [3]
murder [3]
tiding [3][4][5][36]
tittering [36]
mallards flush [36]
puddling [36]
sord [3][5][8][36]
suit or sute [5][8][36]
mares stud [5][6][36]
martens richesse or richness [3][5][36]
mice nest [2][36]
trip [36]
minnows shoal [36]
moles company [36]
labor or labour [2][3][5][36]
monkeys barrel [2][3]
cartload [36]
tribe [36]
troop [3][5][36]
wilderness [37]
moorhens plump [36]
moose herd [2][36]
mosquitoes scourge [36]
mudhens fleet [36]
mules barren [2][3][5][6][36]
pack [3][36]
rake [36]
span [2][3][36]
N
nightingales watch [4][5][8]
O
owls parliament [2][3][6]
oxen drove [2]
team [2][3]
yoke [2][3]
oysters bed [2][3]
P
parrots company [2][3]
pandemonium [2]
partridges covey [3][5][8]
peacocks muster [3][5][6][8]
ostentation [2][3]
pride [2]
pelicans pod [2]
penguins colony [2][3]
convent [2]
pheasants bouquet [2][3]
head [5]
nest [3]
nide [3]
nye [2][3][5][6][8]
pigs drift See also boars, hogs, swine [2][3]
drove [2][3]
pigeons kit flying together [5]
plovers congregation [4][5][8]
stand [5]
wing [5]
Q
quail bevy [2][3][4][5][8]
covey [2][3]
drift [5]
R
rabbits colony [3]
nest [3]
herd domestic only [3]
litter young rabbits only [3]
raccoonsgaze [2]
ravens unkindness [4][5]
rhinoceroses crash [2][3][5]
rooks building [4][5][8]
parliament [5][6]
S
salmon bind [38]
draught [38]
run [38]
sandpipers fling [38]
seals herd [38]
pod [38]
rookery [38]
sea urchins herd [39][40]
sheep flock [2][3][38]
down [38]
drift when driven in a group [38]
drove when driven in a group [3][38]
herd [3][38]
hurtle [2][38]
meinie [38]
mob [38]
pack [2]
parcel [38]
trip [38]
sheldrake dopping [8][38][41]
snails escargatoire [38]
rout [38]
walk [38]
snakes bed [2]
den [2]
knot [2]
nest [3]
pit [2]
snipes walk [5][6][8][38]
whisp or wisp [5][38]
sparrows host [2][3][4][5][8][38]
meinie [38]
tribe [38]
spiderscluster or clutter [2][38]
squirrels colony [38]
dray [2][3]
scurry [2][3]
starlings chattering [2][15][38]
clattering [38]
cloud [38]
congregation [38]
murmuration [2][4][5][6][8][38]
stoats pack [38]
trip [38]
storks flight [38]
mustering [2][3][38]
phalanx when migrating [38]
swallows flight [2][3][8][38]
gulp [38]
swans bank on the ground [2][38]
bevy [2][3][38]
drift [38]
eyrar [38]
flight [2]
game [5][38]
herd [2][8][38]
lamentation fanciful [38]
sownder [38]
team [38]
wedge in flight [2][3][5][38]
whiting [38]
swifts flock [38]
scream [42]
swine doylt See also boars, hogs, pigs [38]
drift [6][38]
trip [38]
T
teal spring [3][4][5][8]
tigers ambush [2]
streak [2][3]
toads knot [2][3]
nest [2]
trout hover [2][3]
turkeys gang [3]
rafter [2][3]
turtles bale [2][3]
dole or dule [2][8]
nest [3]
turtle doves dole or dule [4]
pitying [3]
U
V
vipers nest [3]
W
walruses herd [3]
pod [3]
waterfowl bunch [5]
knob [5]
raft [5]
weasels colony [2]
pack [2]
whales gam [2][3]
herd [3]
mob [2]
pod [2][3]
wigeons company [3][5]
trip [5]
wildfowl bunch [5]
knob fewer than 30 [5]
plump [5]
trip [5]
wolves pack [2][3]
rout or route when in movement [2][3]
wombats wisdom [43]
woodcocks fall [3][4][5][8]
woodpeckers descent [2][3][5]
wrens herd [4][5]
X
Y
Z
zebras herd [2][44]
cohort [44]
dazzle [45]
zeal [2][44]
Contents 

See also

References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 "San Diego Zoo". archived copy of Animal group names. Zoological Society of San Diego. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
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  7. 1 2 3 Definition of Sege by the Free Online Dictionary
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  9. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
  10. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/monarch-butterfly/
  11. British Trust for Ornithology - BirdFacts - Capercaillie
  12. 1 2 Faulkner, Mark; Lima Filho, Eduardo; Logan, Harriet; Mina, Miraphora (2013). A Compendium of Collective Nouns: From an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebras. Text by Jay Sacher. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 37. ASIN B00CUSQNWO. ISBN 978-1-4521-2952-5. LCCN 2013-10190. OCLC 854853170.
  13. Definition of Destruction by the Free Online Dictionary
  14. mob. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mob
  15. 1 2 Definition of Chattering by the Free Online Dictionary
  16. Definition of Clattering by the Free Online Dictionary
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  18. Full text of "Days of deer-stalking in the Scottish Highlands; including an account of the nature and habits of the red deer, a description of the Scottish forests, and histor...
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  20. A Pod of Dolphins - NASA Mars Collection
  21. British Trust for Ornithology - BirdFacts - Dotterel
  22. http://dictionary.infoplease.com/plump
  23. Plump[4] - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  24. "cast". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989.
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  31. Schoultz, Lars (1998). Beneath the United States. Harvard University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-674-92276-X. They are lazy, dirty, nasty, and in short I can compare them to nothing but a parcel of hogs. (John Quincy Adams, age 12)
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  37. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene i
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  41. Definition of Dopping by the Free Online Dictionary
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Further reading

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