A Shitload of Birds

tags: birds, birding, word play, humor

When I was working on my dissertation, my colleagues and I referred to any large or mixed flock of birds as "a shitload of birds" for obvious reasons. I hadn't thought about this for awhile until recently, when I noticed that one of the email lists I am on is discussing the made-up nouns that we use to describe flocks of particular bird species .. you know, like "a murder of crows" and that sort of thing. Below the fold are some of these names for you to enjoy and of course, feel free to add your own inventions to the list!

A coronation of Emperor Geese
A drift of Snow Geese
A coronet of Trumpeter Swans
A timber of Wood Ducks
A galaxy of Steller's Eider
A goggle of Spectacled Eiders
A sovereign of King Eiders
A wave of Surf Scoters
A unadornment of Plain Chachalacas
A sagaciousness of Greater Sage-Grouse
A governator of California Quail
A revenge of Montezuma Quail
An asylum of Common Loons
A brass of Horned Grebes
A sounding of Eared Grebes
A reticence of Shy Albatross
A peripatetic of Wandering Albatross
A law of Murphy's Petrels
A triangle of Bermuda Petrels
A kitchen of Cook's Petrels
An embarrassment of Red-faced Cormorants
A superlative of Magnificent Frigatebirds
A tart of American Bitterns
A cowardice of Yellow Bitterns
A bullion of Golden Eagles
An illusion of Merlins
A pastime of Eurasian Hobbys
An applause of Clapper Rails
A dune of Sandhill Cranes
A singularity of Solitary Sandpipers
An orientation of Far-Eastern Curlews
A nutrisystem of Slender-billed Curlews
A schnozzle of Long-billed Curlews
A dude of Surfbirds
A sheepshank of Great Knots
A de minimis of Little Stints
A bunion of Long-toed Stints
A haze of Purple Sandpipers
A ladle of Spoon-billed Sandpipers
A trump of Ruff
A dunno of Jack Snipe
A donkey of Pin-tailed Snipe
A prosthesis of American Woodcock
A trailerpark of Red-necked Phalaropes
A hilarity of Laughing Gulls
A mint of Franklin's Gulls
A waterloo of Boneparte's Gulls
A munster of Heerman's Gulls
A burping of Belcher's Gulls
A tickle of Ivory Gulls
A dagwood of Sandwich Terns
An orphanage of Smooth-billed Anis
A workshop of Elf Owls
An inferno of Lucifer's Hummingbirds
An expedition of Lewis's Woodpeckers and Clark's Nutcrackers
A scaffold of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers
An amputation of American Three-toed Woodpeckers
A glimmer of Norther Flickers
A burmashave of Northern Beardless-Tyrannulets
An oxymoron of Greater Pewees
An annunciation of Say's Phoebes
A tinkling of Bell's Vireos
A bob of Plumbeous Vireos
A lauren of Hutton's Vireos
A brotherlylove of Philadelphia Vireos
A hangover of Red-eyed Vireos
A crayola of Yellow-green Vireos
An alphabet of jays
A cincodemayo of Mexican Scrub-Jays
A pining of Pinyon Jays
A maniac of ravens
A toleration of swallows
An exposure of tits
A wcfielding of chickadees
A replication of bulbuls
A primogeniture of kinglets
A mirroring of Naricissis Flycatchers
A gulag of Siberian Flycatchers
A durum of wheatears
A tweezing of Eyebrowed Thrushes
A stadium of redwings
A hood of robins
An assortment of Varied Buntings
An empire of Aztec Thrushes
A litter of catbirds
A ridicule of mockbirds
A radius of Curve-billed Thrashers
An enumeration of Le Conte's Thrashers
A nebula of starlings
An inflection of accentors
A booty of wagtails
An opry of Nashville Warblers
A pilot of Palm Warblers
A range of Ovenbirds
A derby of Kentucky Warblers
A lamentation of Mourning Warblers
A pallet of Painted Redstarts
A devotee of Fan-tailed Warblers
A bunch of Bannaquits
A lettering of Scarlet Tanagers
A conflagration of Flame-colored Tanagers
A jaundice of Yellow-eyed Juncos
An anatomy of Gray Buntings
A mansion of Pallas's Buntings
A tide of Crimson-collared Grosbeaks
A proboscis of grosbeaks
A rainbow of Painted Buntings
An oxidation of Rusty Blackbirds
A tanningbooth of Bronzed Cowbirds
An aura of goldfinch

And speaking of which, how would you describe a collective of birders?