{"id":1586,"date":"2013-01-31T10:11:42","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T14:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.massaudubon.org\/blogs\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2013-01-31T10:11:42","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T14:11:42","slug":"a-flock-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/a-flock-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flock By Any Other Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Starlings<\/a>A murder<\/strong> of crows. An exaltation<\/strong> of larks. A business<\/strong> of ferrets. Many of us are familiar with these strange and often fanciful group names for animals, but why do they exist? Birds, particularly, seem an odd case, since English has a perfectly serviceable word (\u201cflock\u201d) that can be used to refer to any group of birds.<\/p>\n

The word flock<\/strong> actually predates most of these more arcane terms, as it was first attested in the 13th<\/sup> century CE, and is believed to have arisen from the Old English flocc<\/i>, meaning \u201ca crowd or band,\u201d which in turn likely evolved from the Old Norse flokkr<\/i>, which carried a similar meaning.<\/p>\n

Words like flock, herd, and school are known as collective nouns, or more archaically, as terms of venery.<\/i> Venery, a Middle English word meaning \u201cto hunt game animals,\u201d likely shares a root with the Latin venus\u2014<\/i>the goddess of desire, and hence, pursuit.<\/p>\n

During the Middle Ages, sport hunting was a popular pastime among the upper classes, and like all hobbies hunting developed a specialized vocabulary, including the terms of venery. Whether these terms arose from a genuine need for specificity or from a desire to sound knowledgeable by creating trivia is not historically clear.<\/p>\n

Many of these terms were collected in a late 15th<\/sup> century publication known as The Book of Saint Albans<\/i> (or The Boke of Seynt Albans, <\/i>in the days when spelling was subjective). Some of them make perfect sense: anyone who has heard the incessant clicks, whistles, and chirps of a flock of starlings could understand how such gatherings could be called murmurations<\/strong>, and a gathering of carrion-loving crows might well herald a murder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Others were more obscure or arose from memetic mutation: a siege<\/strong> of bitterns was originally rendered as a sedge<\/strong> of bitterns, likely a reference to the birds\u2019 marshland habitat. Others are complete nonsense to our modern ears, such as a dopping<\/strong> of sheldrakes (or mergansers in America).<\/p>\n

In the New World, the tradition of fanciful terms of venery continued as new species were discovered. One of my favorites is the chain<\/strong> of bobolinks.<\/p>\n

Which animal-related collective nouns do you like best?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo copyright Pat Dalton via flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A murder of crows. An exaltation of larks. A business of ferrets. Many of us are familiar with these strange and often fanciful group names for animals, but why do they exist? Birds, particularly, seem an odd case, since English has a perfectly serviceable word (\u201cflock\u201d) that can be used to refer to any group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,55],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nature-notes","tag-birds","tag-grammar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t87A-pA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16534,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/why-you-should-appreciate-pigeons-yes-pigeons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1586,"position":0},"title":"Why You Should Appreciate Pigeons. Yes, Pigeons.","author":"Mass Audubon","date":"November 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We all love birdwatching, but\u2014pigeons? Who cares about pigeons? Rosemary Mosco, the creator of the nature comic Bird and Moon (and Mass Audubon alum), has a new book out that explains why these ubiquitous city birds deserve a second look. 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This behavior is called \u201cmobbing,\u201d and it\u2019s a common phenomenon that you may encounter any time you're outdoors. The Mobsters Mobbing occurs when birds of one or more species aggressively approach a bird perceived as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/06\/mob.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/06\/mob.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/06\/mob.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15416,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/take-5-chick-a-dee-dee-delightful\/","url_meta":{"origin":1586,"position":3},"title":"Take 5: Chick-a-Dee-Dee-Delightful","author":"Ryan D.","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring at last! 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Year-round, chickadees make their namesake call, chickadee-dee-dee, using an increasing number of dees the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-capped Chickadee \u00a9 Sue Feldberg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/03\/1773SueFeldberg6288-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/03\/1773SueFeldberg6288-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/03\/1773SueFeldberg6288-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/03\/1773SueFeldberg6288-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2982,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/the-other-snow-bird\/","url_meta":{"origin":1586,"position":4},"title":"The Other Snow Bird","author":"Rosemary","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Snowy owls have been getting a lot of attention this season, mainly due to the large influx we are seeing in the Northeast. These owls aren't the only birds that prefer the comparably mild Massachusetts winter over the extreme temps in the Arctic tundra. Snow buntings\u2014sometimes known as the \u201csnowflake\u201d\u2014also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/11\/bunting2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4383,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/take-5-terrific-turkeys\/","url_meta":{"origin":1586,"position":5},"title":"Take 5: Terrific Turkeys","author":"Rosemary","date":"November 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"With Thanksgiving approaching, it's time to give thanks for the wild turkey. 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