No, It’s Not Actually a Murder of Crows
Okay, technically it is, but we should still abandon absurd—and antiquated—terms of venery.
You’ve heard them all before, somewhere. In a bad poem, maybe, or as
part of an online clickbait-y slideshow. “Did you know that a group of
owls is called a ‘parliament’?” “Did you know that a group of jellyfish
is called a ‘smack’?” “Did you know that a group of Indonesian mountain
weasels is called a ‘bubble gum’?”
I made that last one up, but how would you know? As familiar as they
are, these little nicknames for groups of animals—terms of venery, if
you want to get fancy with it—are supposedly delightful quirks of the
English language.
But they’ve always left me feeling annoyed.
Annoyed because, as a lifelong birder, I’ve never once used
“parliament” for owls or “murder” for crows or anything of the sort. Or
heard anyone else use them. A group of birds—any birds— is a “flock.” A
group of cows is a “herd.” Other than that, I just don’t see enough
groups of other animals to need more words.
I needed to know: Are there actual people in the real world who use
special group names for certain species? Or is there just one nerd in an
office somewhere with a field guide in one hand and a dictionary in the
other, matching each species with a cute little term and laughing
maniacally when the world collectively coos over the pairing?
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