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MURDER AT THE SANCTUARY
by Sam Masone
Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary is currently hosting a group of seven crows in our corvid cage, making it the scene of a murder,
the name for a collection of crows. Seeing our group of gorgeous black birds made me recall this little bit of trivia,
which was imparted to me by my mother back when I was growing up and we had a crow of our own.
That started me thinking about the odd names of animal collectives, which prompted me to do some research, which proved highly entertaining to me and the rest of my own little family (crowd, tribe).
For instance, I learned that the group of ravens we rehabbed last summer is known as an unkindness (a misnomer for certain as these are some of the most playful and engaging birds Iʼve ever known). Last year we also released a gaggle of geese, a surfeit (odor) of skunks, a parliament (stare, wisdom) of owls, and a scurry of squirrels.
In addition to our murder of crows (a phrase that sounds oddly out of sync with our mission here at the Sanctuary), we also have a sord (raft) of mallards, a band (scold) of jays, a rafter of turkeys, a chime of wrens, and a gaze (nursery) of raccoons.
We‟re already treated and released a bury (herd, litter) of rabbits, a flight (gulp) of swallows, a chattering (murmuration) of starlings, a host of sparrows and a trembling of finches. We fed most of the birds from our squirm of worms.
If some of these names sound improbable to you, well...I have to agree. It seems that a lot of the names are derived from an attribute of the animal, a feeling it evokes in its human counterparts, a love of alliteration or - in some cases - a combination of both. Regardless of their origin, they certainly entertain and amaze!
Read More About the Animals of Rockfish
Wild creatures do the darndest things. Read more about the amazing
Animals of Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary