Humans like to name things. In the Bible, Adam gives “names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.” Humans have come up with interesting monikers for certain groups of animals. Some of my personal favorites are a pandemonium of parrots, a horde of hamsters, a rhumba of rattlesnakes and a shiver of sharks.
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We also make up special names for hybrid animals. The offspring of a male donkey crossed with a female zebra is a zedonk or zonkey. Wikimedia Commons photo. |
Children also like to associate sounds or words with things. One of the first vocalizations children learn is the sound animals make. Babies as young as 8 months may know that a cow goes “moo.” See ‘N Say! was a popular talking toy when I was growing up, back in the pre-Wii age. (I also had a Thingmaker that cooked Plastigoop Creepy Crawlers at sizzlingly-unsafe temperatures.)
The farmer version of See ‘N Say has a dial that, when aimed at a picture of an animal like a rooster, says “cock-a-doodle-do.” I had always assumed these sounds, unlike words, would be pretty universal world-wide. I was surprised to learn that a Spanish-speaking rooster says “kikiriki.” Frogs that say “ribbit” in the U.S.A. apparently say “croa-croa” in France and quaak-quaak in Germany.
See if you can match up the animal, bird or insect below with the corresponding terms for a group of them and their young. Try it with a child. The answers are at bottom. Don’t feel too badly if you can’t get them all – until recently, my husband Doug thought ponies were baby horses.
ANIMAL |
group |
young |
GROUP |
YOUNG |
bat |
|
|
army |
calf |
crow |
|
|
band |
chick |
duck |
|
|
cloud |
chick |
eagle |
|
|
colony |
cub |
fish |
|
|
committee |
duckling |
fox |
|
|
convocation |
eaglet |
frog |
|
|
gaggle |
foal |
geese |
|
|
herd |
fry |
gnat |
|
|
murder |
gosling |
gorilla |
|
|
pod |
infant |
horse |
|
|
pride |
kit |
lion |
|
|
raft |
larva |
turkey |
|
|
rafter |
poult |
vulture |
|
|
school |
pup |
whale |
|
|
skulk |
tadpole |
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