Wednesday, January 26, 2005

A Murder of Grackles?

What do you call a group of Grackles?

According to a list I keep (I've had it for at least 15 years and have no idea where I got it) the naming of groups of birds is not consistent at all. You might think, "oh, a group of birds is a flock", but you'd be only partially correct. Haven't you heard of a gaggle of geese? How about a brood of hens? Those are pretty familiar to most folks. Here are some other groupings of birds:

  • Band of (Blue)Jays
  • Brace of Ducks
  • Cast of Falcons (or Hawks)
  • Charm of Finches
  • Colony of Gulls
  • Company of Parrots
  • Convocation of Eagles
  • Covey of Quail (and Partridges, whether in a pear tree or not)
  • Descent of Woodpeckers
  • Dule of Doves
  • Exaltation of Larks
  • Flight of Pigeons (or Swallows)
  • Flurry of Flamingos
  • Host of Sparrows
  • Mustering of Storks
  • Ostentation of Peacocks
  • Rafter of Turkeys
  • Rookery of Penguins
  • Stare of Owls
  • Tiding of Magpies
  • Unkindness of Ravens
  • Wedge of Swans

But my all time favorite is a

  • Murder of Crows

I think that same term should apply to Grackles, don't you?

16 comments:

Gene said...

There are other kinds of jays than blue. I've seen a single Green Jay, for example, but one does not constitute a band.

In my Dallas backyard, I have seen a dule of doves; a host of sparrows; a murder of crows, and a smegma of pigeons.

Anonymous said...

I like those grackles there in TX. Up here in NJ we have bland, tone-deaf crows instead. Your grackles are musical beasts, and they've got pretty eyes.

Andrew Keating said...

A "murder" of crows used to be my favorite until I came across An "unkindness" of ravens. I've been looking for the name of a group of grackles - no luck.

By the way, i'm from the northeast, but have lived in Austin, TX for five years. Grackles are not "musical beasts". They are annoying as hell. I'll take crows any day over grackles.

Esmaeil Khaksari said...

Per wikipedia, their groups have a very fitting name:

"A large group of grackles is called a plague."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Grackle

Andrew Keating said...

Hey thanks. I hadn't seen that in the wikipedia article I read.

Anonymous said...

I prefer a cacophony of grackles.

Anonymous said...

Why it gotta be plague?

https://imgflip.com/i/8cden

Anonymous said...

whatbird.com has alot of the names of each group of birds.

Unknown said...

Should be called a Sh**storm of Grackles. The aftermath is disgusting.

missmary said...

Smegma, ewww lmao!!

missmary said...

Smegma, ewww lmao!!

EHammer said...

I had always heard it was a parliament of owls.

Unknown said...

A group of baboons - Congress- so fitting.

Anonymous said...

If the crows are in the flying...they are called a "Piercing"
A Piercing of Crows sounds very creepy indeed!

Anonymous said...

Its a "plague of grackles".

Anonymous said...

A groovy of grackles