NZ Birds search logo

COLLECTIVE NOUNS for Birds (B)

"Whilst Watching a Dissimulation of Birds"

By: Celeste Warner
(Wanganui Conservancy, Department of
Conservation, New Zealand)

I saw a leash of hawks unleashed
that brooded with the hens.
A raft of ducks came paddling by
escaping to their dens.
A wedge of swans were herded on,
the squadron taking charge,
when a raffle of turkeys
mustered round a mob that was at large.
The guillemots at their bazaar
braced for a covey of grouse.
When out of the sky a descent of woodpeckers
chased a little brown mouse.
A company of widgeon
joined with a teal knob,
as a pack of gulls colonised
a half-eaten corn cob.
The flamboyance of the flamingos
scoffed at by a flock of bustards,
troubled the hummingbirds by calling the jays
a band of hairy bustards.
The concentrating kingfishers
joined a congregation of plovers,
as the eagles began a convocation
in a field of clover.
I had now become tired
of watching this bird volery,
so the brooding hawks put on a kettle
and I had a cup of tea.
The unkindness of the ravens
was a conspiracy galore.
It caught the stare of the owls
on their parliamentary floor.
The ostentatious peacocks,
so prideful of their beauty,
tailed a bouquet of pheasants
to the penguins at their rookery.
The exaltation of the larks
were heard in high-exalting
by the mallards who were rather flushed
from playing in the puddling.
A gaggle of geese were flocked together
charmed by the chattering goldfinches,
when a covert of coots covered a siege
of Bitterns eating their lunches.
And in the parish of the rooks
clamoured the ruffs who lived on a hill.
They walked the wispy, lispy snipes
hoping to make a kill.
The sparrows set up a quarrel
and the starlings murmured too,
as the thrushes began mutating
after a visit to the partridge bew.
a brook of Babblers
a tower of Babblers
a wedge of Babblers
(Lesser Orange-footed) Bananaguits
a bunch of Bee-eaters
a colony of Bellbirds
a chiming of Bellbirds
a pealing of Bellbirds
a tintinnabulation of Birds
an aerie of Birds
an aggregation of Birds
an assemblage of Birds
an aviary of Birds
a bank of Birds
a battery of Birds
a brace of Birds
a bench of Birds
a bliss of Birds
a congregation of Birds
a couple of Birds
a crossing of Birds
a dissimulation of Birds
a drift of Birds
a drove of Birds
a fleet of Birds
a flew of Birds
a flight of Birds
a flock of Birds
a game of Birds
a grist of Birds
a horde of Birds
a host of Birds
a leash of Birds
a menagerie of Birds
a mess of Birds
a parcel of Birds
a party of Birds
a pod of Birds
a pull of Birds
a raft of Birds
a roost of Birds
a rout of Birds
a rush of Birds
a skiver of Birds
a volary Birds
a volery of Birds
a bunch of (aquatic) Birds
a plump of (aquatic) Birds
a sord of (aquatic) Birds
a sute of (aquatic) Birds
a trip of (aquatic) Birds
a doppling of (aquatic) Birds
a doppling of (flightless) Birds of Passage
a galore of Birds of prey
a brood of Birds of prey
an eyrie of Birds of prey
a nest of Birds of prey
a stooping of Bitterns
a dash of Bitterns
a freeze of Bitterns
a pint of Bitterns
a pretense of Bitterns
a sedge of Bitterns
a sege of Bitterns
a seige of Blackbirds
a cloud of Blackbirds
a cluster of Blackbirds
a flock of Blackbirds
a merl of Blackbirds
a keg of (Brewer’s) Blackbirds
a flock of (Red-winged) Blackbirds
a dissimulation of Blackcaps
a lelt of Blackcocks
a band of Bluejays
a crown of Bluejays
a party of Bluejays
a scold of Bluejays
a scolding of Bluejays
a chain of Bobolinks
a bevy of Bobwhites
a covey of Bobwhites
a name dropping of Bobwhites
an exile of Bonapartes
a congress of Boobies
a hatch of Boobies
a trap of Boobies
a duct of Boubous
a duet of Boubous
a pair of Boubous
a chatter of Budgerigars
a chattering of Budgerigars
a flock of Budgerigars
a chatter of Budgies
a chattering of Budgies
a flock of Budgies
a baffle of Buffleheads
a dufflebag of Buffleheads
a drove of Bullcocks
a bellowing of Bullfinches
a lowing of Bullfinches
a volery of Bullfinches
a decoration of Buntings
a mural of Buntings
a sacrifice of Buntings
a mural of (painted) Buntings
a palette of (painted) Buntings
a drift of (snow) Buntings
a flock of Bustard
a flock of Buzzards
a kettle of Buzzards
a wake of Buzzards