Talk:List of collective nouns for birds

Collective noun for bulbuls?

I have a question.

What is the collective noun for the bird, Bulbuls? Is there a different noun for them as a happy mated couple or as unmated aggresive individuals? Is there a different noun for different kinds of them?

Patrick Hung

patrick_c_hung@hotmail.com

I always thought a general term for a group of birds was a flock i.e. a flock of geese, a flock of pigeons, a flock of seagulls ;-) or even just a flock of birds. I'm glad someone included the outside link. For some reason I had it in my head that a group of Cardinals (avian variety) was called a College, but I could never find any confirmation, even in my dictionary. For a while, I thought maybe it was because cardinals rarely flock together...but I digress. Anyway, I would guess a flock is a good general term for a group of birds. --Barista | a/k/a マイケル | [[User_talk:Barista|T]]/[[Special:Contributions/Barista|C]] 07:36, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Japanese Counter word

Is this related concept?

I believe so. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.46.115.198 (talk) 04:23, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Collateral vandalism on birds pages

A user is repeatedly censoring the collective noun of birds on some pages, at least Lark and Raven. Editors of collective nouns may be interested in chiming in about what I see as unilateral and unencyclopedian vandalism. Issue commented with diffs at User_talk:Jimfbleak#Your_vandalism_on_Raven_and_Lark.

IMPORTANT: I have posted the same message on Talk:Collective_noun so people interested in discussing this issue should probably better post over there rather than here.

-- 62.147.38.149 11:34, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

And my reply is also there, despite the anon not bothering to let me know he was raising this issue.. jimfbleak 12:51, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

2007-08-3 Automated pywikipediabot message

--CopyToWiktionaryBot 04:46, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

A covey of birds

Not too sure whether this is appropriate without the additional qualification given in Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, which has the following for covey:

covey noun (coveys) 1 a small flock of game birds of one type, especially partridge or grouse. 2 a small group of people. ETYMOLOGY: 15c: from Old French covée, from cover to hatch.

<www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=covey&title=21st>

Any quick google search (and dictionary check) would show that "covey" is a very common collective for quail (about 660,000 hits for "covey of quail", compared with 112,000 hits for "bevy of quail" and only 408 hits for "drift of quail")... I suggest this should be added. Ptilinopus (talk) 10:55, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

A clutch of chickens

Chambers 21st Century again

clutch noun (clutches) 1 a number of eggs laid in a single nest or at the same time. 2 a brood of newly hatched birds, especially chickens. 3 colloq a group or number. verb (clutches, clutched, clutching) to hatch. ETYMOLOGY: 18c: from Norse klekja to hatch.

<www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=clutch&title=21st>

A brood of hens

I don't think brood is appropriate as a specific collective noun for hens as it appears to be applicable to all birds

Chambers again:

brood noun 1 a number of young animals, especially birds, that are produced or hatched at the same time. 2 colloq, usually humorous all the children in a family. 3 a kind, breed or race of something. 4 as adj: a said of an animal: kept for breeding • brood mare; b used for or relating to the brooding of offspring • brood-pouch. ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon brod.

<www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=brood&title=21st>

A flight of cormorants

Once again this doesn't seem appropriate for a specific group of birds as it applies to any flock of birds (definition 3)

Chambers yet again:

flight noun 1 the art or the act of flying with wings or in an aeroplane or other vehicle. 2 the movement of eg a vehicle, bird or projectile through the air, supported by aerodynamic forces. 3 a flock of birds flying together. 4 a regular air journey, numbered and at a fixed time, made by an aircraft. 5 a journey of a spacecraft. 6 a group of aircraft involved in a joint mission. 7 a set of steps or stairs leading straight up or down • a flight of stairs. 8 a feather or something similar attached to the end of a dart or arrow. ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon flyht.

<www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?query=flight&title=21st>

A Hannah Miller of ostriches

Was this vandalism? There is no attribution, and I see very few hits for the phrase in google. Those that are there may have been copied from this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 17.202.12.146 (talk) 06:55, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

It must be. Deleting it until someone can find a verifiable source for it. MalignantMouse (talk) 16:21, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

US Airways Flight 1549

In light of yesterday's incident, we need a new term, for a group of birds that get pulled into an airplane engine resulting in the shredding of both. I suggest a "Fanjet of birds". Other suggestions welcome. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 11:33, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Chough and Jackdaw

These are not the same bird so the entry for "chough (i.e. jackdaw)" may need to be changed. If there is some subtlty intended - such as an obsolete usage of "chough" for "jackdaw" (I'm not aware of this, it would be my best guess only)- this should be made clear. UnaDormienda (talk) 00:23, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

parliament of rooks?

In Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" he has a story called "A parliament of rooks" yet here it says "a building of rooks". Might there be multiple possibilities here? Valley2city^‽ 19:54, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

A musket of lyrebirds?

Claiming that this is referenced in Juliana Berners Book of St. Albans presents an anacronism. The book was printed around 1480, but Australia (where the two species of lyrebird are found) was not explored by westerners in any serious fashion till the 1700s. Unless there is some other bird by the same name, this entry is suspicious.

Philip Wilson —Preceding unsigned comment added by Philip V Wilson (talk • contribs) 12:28, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

An unkindness of ravens?

Several sources list "unkindness" as the collective noun for a group of ravens, but I'm not sure whether they're sufficiently authoritative. Has anyone else heard this term? Here are a few sources:

http://www.pubquizhelp.com/animals/groups.html
http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/ravens_-_collective_noun
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_collective_noun_for_a_group_of_ravens

Brian Zandar555 (talk) 17:28, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

A Congress of Crows?

I've heard many times over the years that when crows do their annual gathering to roost in large numbers (breeding time, I guess) it is called a congress. I cannot find any mention of this on wikipedia or wiktionary. Is it not common usage? 64.196.90.242 (talk) 17:02, 4 November 2011 (UTC)