Groups of animals are fascinating to watch, especially those with strong social structures.  I could happily watch the interaction of a group of baboons (as long as they are’t bouncing on the roof of my tent) or a herd of elephants for hours.

For sheer, dazzling beauty in numbers, though, my vote goes to the zebra.

They also get my vote for the fantastic collective nouns they have attracted.  No mere “herd” here; they can be a dazzle or a zeal, a crossing or a stripe.

We have such evocative collective nouns in English, don’t we?  I remember some for English classes at school but others are new to me:

• An ambush of tigers
• An army of frogs
• A band of coyotes
• A barrel of monkeys
• A bask of crocodiles
• A bloat of hippos
• A cast of hawks
• A cete of badgers
• A charm of falcons
• A clan of hyenas
• A cloud of grasshoppers
• A clutter of starlings
• A company of parrots
• A congress of baboons
• A convocation of eagles
• A crash of rhinos
• A descent of woodpeckers
• A gang of buffalo
• A gatling of woodpeckers
• A gulp of cormorants
• An implausibility of gnus
• A leap of leopards
• A memory of elephants
• A murmuration of starlings
• A mustering of storks
• An obstinacy of buffalo
• A pandemonium of parrots
• A parade of elephants
• A parliament of owls
• A party of jays
• A parcel of hogs
• A prattle of parrots
• A rumpus of baboons
• A scold of jays
• A siege of herons
• A thunder of hippos
• A totter of giraffes
• A wake of vultures

Which is your favourite name, or I have I missed it from my list?

Linked to Triple T: Bedazzled.