What Is a Group of Birds Called? When It's Not a Flock

If you've ever played trivia nights or read old literature, you may have stumbled on the question: What is a group of birds called?

The answer isn't always as simple as "flock." Buckle up, because you're heading straight into the world of poetic, quirky, and sometimes baffling collective nouns.

Contents

Common Collective Nouns for Birds
Where These Group Names Came From
Some of the Strangest Bird Group Names
Do People Really Use These Group Names?

Common Collective Nouns for Birds

The most familiar group name is "flock," used for many bird species in flight or foraging together. It's a catch-all term you can safely use for starlings, finches, pigeons, or sparrows.

But English is packed with more vivid alternatives. Some—like "murder of crows" or "gaggle of geese"—have made their way into everyday speech.

Others are less known: a "murmuration" of starlings, a "parliament" of owls, or a "watch" of nightingales.

These collective nouns reflect traits, behaviors or myths tied to the species, and they make a simple group of birds sound like a cast of characters in a fantasy novel.

Where These Group Names Came From

Many of these terms trace back to 15th-century England and a book called "The Book of Saint Albans." It compiled poetic groupings for animals (likely more for entertainment than biology).

A "murder" of crows? Possibly coined because people associated crows with death or mischief. A "conspiracy" of ravens or an "unkindness"? More about folklore than ornithology.

Some terms, like "colony" of seabirds or "brood" for baby birds, have a more practical origin. They're still used in modern field guides and by birdwatchers.

Some of the Strangest Bird Group Names

Here's where the list gets wild:

A "wake" of vultures (if they're feeding)
A "trembling" of finches
A "descent" of woodpeckers
A "scold" of jays
A "cast" of falcons
A "charm" of hummingbirds
A "conspiracy" of ravens
A "mischief" of magpies

Some names—like "plague" of grackles or "confusion" of guinea fowl—seem tailor-made for trivia nights. Others, such as a "lamentation" of swans or a "quarrel" of sparrows, are rooted in literature or old poetic traditions.

Do People Really Use These Group Names?

In scientific or everyday conversation, not really. Birders and biologists stick to simple terms like flock, colony, or brood, depending on context.

But the more colorful group names still show up in writing, classroom posters, and yes, trivia games.

For example, while most of us just say a "group of crows," you'll likely hear the more memorable "murder of crows" at parties or on pub quiz nights. The same goes for an "unkindness of ravens," which lives on thanks to its eerie tone and literary appearances.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.