That's a Lot of Animals!

(originally posted on July 29, 2009)

This week's blog is all about groups of animals. Animals that like to hang out in groups are called gregarious...they're social butterflies (or birds, or mammals, or fish, or whatever)! Some animals hang out in groups all the time and some only at certain times of the year, like migration or during the breeding season. What has always been one of my favorite bits of animal trivia is the names given to various groups of animals. Check out these fun animal group names:

Murder: a group of crows

Unkindness: a group of ravens

Intrusion: a group of cockroaches (I'll say!)

Band: a group of coyotes

Memory (or herd): a group of elephants

Army: a group of frogs or ants

Charm: a group of goldfinches or hummingbirds

Bike: a group of hornets

Mischief: a group of mice

Bite: a group of midges (another appropriate name!)

Parliment: a group of owls

Smack: a group of jellyfish

And some groups are given different names depending on what they're doing! For example, a group of hawks is called a cast. But when they're flying, they're a kettle and when they're circling on air currents they're called a boil. *whew!* That's a lot to keep track of!

So remember, the next time you strike up a conversation about jellyfish you really can say you're talking smack.