Curious Creatures, Wild Minds part six, Collective Nouns

Curious Creatures, Wild Minds

Image source: Bas Blu

Collective nous are curious and often so inventive in the way they describe a group of creatures. My mind goes wild when I think about the different words.

Image source: National Geographic

Here are a few examples I found for butterflies:

• A flutter of butterflies
• A flight of butterflies
• A kaleidoscope of butterflies
• A shimmer of butterflies

Image Source: Daily Express Swans on the Thames

Here are examples for swans:

• A ballet of swans
• A drift of swans
• A lamentation of swans
• A whiteness of swans

Here are some examples that I adore

• A circus of puffins
• A parliament of owls
• A chatter of budgerigars
• A galaxy of starfish
• A tower of giraffes
• A loveliness of ladybirds

Resources:

Animals and English - this site is very comprehensive and well worth exploring.
Twenty Five strange names Video
An ambush of Tigers (Kirkus star review)

There are a host of books that explore this topic:

Previous Curious Creatures, Wild Minds posts:

1. The curious Giraffe
2. Guessing
3. Emotions
4. Our Platypus
5. ABC