A Murder of . . .
By
Sharon Lane, Certified Master Naturalist, Indian Trail Chapter
A murder, squadron, charm, herd, siege and a cast. What do they have in common?
They are all names for a group of birds. You may have a:
- Murder of crows
- Squadron of pelicans
- Charm of hummingbirds
- Herd of swans
- Congress of ravens (or unkindness)
- Muster of peacocks
- Bouquet of pheasants
- Cast of hawks
- Siege of herons
- Parliament of owls (or stare, either seems appropriate)
- Party of jays (a loud party)
- Pandemonium of parrots
- Descent of woodpeckers
- Host of sparrows
- Rafter of turkeys
- Wake of buzzards
- Raft of ducks
- Scourge of starlings
Squadron of pelicans
The list goes on. And it doesn’t just apply to birds, did you know that a group of pigs is called a sounder, a shrewdness of apes, a shoal of bass, colony of beavers, clutter of cats, bed of clams, quiver of cobras, intrusion of cockroaches (really!), float of crocodiles, mischief of mice (no comment), ambush of tigers, route of wolves and my favorite a zeal of zebras.
Paddling of ducks
Do you think nature should be part of our everyday life, not just somewhere to go on the weekends? You are invited to attend our free, open-to-the-public, monthly program on the fourth Monday of the month at 7 pm at the Red Oak Library, 200 Lakeview Pkwy, Red Oak, TX. For more information on the Indian Trail Master Naturalist Chapter, contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at 972-825-5175 or visit our website: http://txmn.org/indiantrail/.