A Gaggle, A Confusion And A Conspiracy - Bizarre Animal Collective ...

Maybe your like

A huge group of ladybirds has caused weather experts in San Diego, USA, to be very confused.

A giant cloud appeared on the NWS weather satellite, but after a bit of investigation it turned out to be a 'bloom' or a group, of ladybirds.

Thousands of the little red and black insects took flight at the same time, and the bloom stretched for 10 miles before they landed.

This got us thinking about some other unusual names for groups of animals. Keep reading below to find out a few of our favourites.

Where did these names come from?

A lady from 15th Century England called Julia Berners published a book called "The Book of Hawking, Hunting and Blasing of Arms" in 1486.
In the book she listed 165 collective nouns for groups of people and animals.
A collective noun is a naming word for a group of things.
Very little is known about her, but she is thought to be the earliest female author writing in the English language!

A parliament of owls

group-of-owls-parliament — Image caption,
I say! What a hoot! Hear, hear! T-wit t-what?! Owls are considered to be quite wise

A group of owls is called a parliament.

This could be because owls are typically considered to be quite intelligent and wise.

In ancient Greek mythology, the owl was seen to accompany or represent Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

A confusion of wildebeest

wildebeest-herd — Image caption,
What was that? Huge numbers of wildebeest take part in The Great Migration each year

A group of wildebeest is called a confusion.

Wildebeest are native to Africa and every year they have a giant migration, where around two million of them join together to search for greener areas.

The reason why they are called a confusion could be due to the noise and confusion that happens when all the animals get together to migrate.

A conspiracy of lemurs

A group of lemurs is called a conspiracy.

Lemurs are social animals and live in mini communities of around 10-25 members.

As a result of this, they often work together, or 'conspire' to outwit predators using a technique called 'mobbing'.

A gaggle of geese

A group of geese is called a gaggle.

This is because when geese get together they can get quite noisy and rowdy.

They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as a skein.

A dazzle of zebras

A group of zebras can be called a dazzle.

Some zoologists think zebras use their stripes as camouflage when they're together in a big group to confuse predators - by making it harder to pick out individual zebras.

Zebras can also be called a herd or a zeal.