Anyone got a collective noun for Wedge-tailed Eagles?
Many (30+) years ago I was inspecting an area out Charleville way for possible reservation as a national park. Sandstone country with spectacular gorges. I sought access through an adjoining grazing property and the lessee kindly drove me to the rim of the very large gorge that was the boundary of his property. (Porcupine Ck gorge, maybe. My memory is a bit hazy now.)
But what I do remember very clearly is that we were nearly to the rim of the gorge when my host spotted a Wedge-tailed Eagle perched in a low tree. He immediately stopped and shot at it with his rifle.
I was delighted that he missed and the eagle flew off unharmed. I was even more delighted a few minutes later to look over the gorge and see a large number of Wedgies wheeling around in the gorge; twenty or thirty or so, I guess. Flock? Don’t think so. “Squadron” maybe? 
Cheers
Syd
> From: Alan McBride > Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:48:08 +1000 > To: bob gosford > Cc: NT Birds group , “Birding-Aus (Forum)” > > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Spotted Harrier over Alice Springs – Eastside > > Hi Bob, > > I think I’d prefer “a rash of Spotted Harriers” 😉 > > Alan > > > > **************************************************************************** **> * > Alan McBride, MBO. > > Photojournalist | Writer | Traveller | + > Member: Australian Photographic Society > American Writers & Artists Inc. > International Travel Writers & Photographers Alliance > National Association of Independent Writers & Editors > Travelwriters . com > Travcom New Zealand > Regional Representative Australia: Neotropical Bird Club > > http://web.me.com/amcbride1 > http://www.worldreviewer.com/member/alanmcbride/ > http://www.linkedin.com/in/alanmcbride > http://www.twitter.com/alanmcbride > > Good planets are hard to find; until we do, please, be green and read from the > screen > > Tel: + 61 419 414 860 > Fax: + 61 2 9973 2306 > Skype: mcbird101 > > P O Box 190 | Newport Beach | NSW 2106 | Australia > > This e-mail and any files transmitted with it, are confidential and intended > solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If > you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender. This e-mail > is also subject to copyright. No part of it should be reproduced, adapted or > transmitted without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. > > ****************************************************************************** > ***** > > > > On 30/08/2010, at 18:46 , bob gosford wrote: > > After Christopher Watson and I saw a mob (a collective noun for a lot of > Spotted Harriers please!) of Spotted Harriers (and a pair of Swamp Harriers > near the airport) on our long days drive around greater Alice Springs last > Friday I’d just like to note that I spotted (geddit!?) a single Spotted > Harrier at some distance and height soaring over Eastside in Alice Springs > this morning. > > Black wing-tips and elevated dihedral – and recent sightings give me a > reasonable degree of certainty – which I hope to confirm over the next few > days. > > Any other inner suburban sightings in Alice Springs welcome. > > And I’ll be keeping eyes and ears open for the first Channel-billed Cuckoo > reports in Alice Springs – or Darwin, Katherine and points in between – over > the coming weeks. I note that there was report on Birding-Aus earlier today > of a C-bC on the NSW mid-north coast earlier today. > > Cheers from an ornithologically abundant red centre… > > — > Bob Gosford > Crikey.com > The Northern Myth blog > http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/ > Alice Springs, NT > Australia > Ph: (+61) 0447024968 > Twitter: @bgosford > “The NT Government does not respond to random electronic gossip sites.” > =============================== > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, > send the message: > unsubscribe > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) > to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au > > http://birding-aus.org > =============================== > > =============================== > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, > send the message: > unsubscribe > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) > to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au > > http://birding-aus.org > ===============================
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I think Lyrebird was a coloquial term for Black Grouse (which has a lyre shaped tail), which were/are still commonly hunted in the UK
Tony Crittenden http://www.tcphotos.net tcphotosdotnet.blogspot.com Adelaide South Australia
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Interesting to see that the Wikipedia list attributes “A musket of Lyrebirds” to The Book of St Albans which was written in the late 15th century, yet their link to Lyrebirds takes one to the page on Australia’s two Lyrebird species. Was there a bird called by that name in England around 1480?
Roger Giller
Dear Birding Aus,
Penguin (fine company name, that) published a book of collective nouns called An Exaltation of Larks or, The Venereal Game by James Lipton in 1977 (ISBN 0 14 00.4536 8). It is silent on the matter of a collective name for eagles.
Peter Madvig might be on the money when one considers The Eagle, a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson
HE clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.
But is a grasp of eagles better than a thunderbolt of eagles? Hmmm, depends on whether they are sitting or stooping, I suppose.
Cheers
Greg hunt
A ‘thin end’?
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Hi all Some bloke in the US, a few years back, was running a webpage with “fun” collective nouns for birds on it and was taking submissions (A psilence of ptarmigans was my effort) but I can’t find either that site or the email correspondence (so it must have predated this computer, so at least 3 1/2 years ago). This page (http://baltimorebirdclub.org/gnlist.html) has a list of real ones and a link to some less sensible ones, although it is not the page I was looking for. Cheers Tom Wilson
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Hm ! Good list but I can’t see Eagles.
Tony
How about a grasp of wedgies? ===============================
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Sorry – can’t help myself:- Out walking t’other day with a friend, upon laying eyes on 3 British cars of the same make, parked together (a collector?), said, ” Ah, a Pride of Jaguars”!
Peter Madvig PS. NO, not birding related, I know….:-(
“I guess 3,000 – 4,000 would warrant a collective noun.”
In that situation surely it should be a ‘Wow!’, ‘Gasp!’ or ‘Awe’ of eagles.
I had also wondered about a ‘Thermal’ of WTEagles?
BUT I cannot, when I read the thread heading, stop thinking that an ‘Ouch’ of Wedgies is most appropriate!!!
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hi all,
This site should give you a good idea of how many eagles can occur in one area.
http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle1.html
I guess 3,000 – 4,000 would warrant a collective noun.
Collective nouns are indeed in old English usage and have been adapted the world over via the wonderful language of English, i.e US people probably coined the Kettle of hawks as they see that effect more than British people.
aerie or eyrie means “flat” or “a platform”, hence the nest. It is nothing to do with the young other than coincidental.
I have lots of friends who love collective nouns and indeed they are great fun and useful in the way we communicate with each other, hence the interest already here with a flurry of e-mails;-)
One of the best pages on the web is here:
http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/
I warn you though it can take hours to get off this page:-)
Best
Alan
Does anyone really use collective nouns for any useful purpose? According to Wikipedia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun#Terms_of_venery_.28words_for_groups_of_animals.29) they date from the 15th century and “were used by gentlemen to distinguish themselves from yeomen and others”. There are a few that are in common enough use to warrant everyone using them, e.g. a pride of lions, or more locally, a mob of emus, but for most of the rest, I’d bet that if you have to look up which word to use then hardly anyone else is going to know the word either, so you’re going to look pretentious for using it outside of poetry, or for fun.
There’s a list of collective nouns for birds here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collective_nouns_for_birds
There aren’t many there that wouldn’t raise eybrows if you used them. Some of them might be in more common use in scientific circles, I wouldn’t know. I suspect some might be in use in falconry, but none are listed there for eagles, maybe because the loose gatherings they apparently occasionally form don’t really count as a group, they just happen to be in the same area, although I’m happy to be corrected about that, I’ve never seen more than 2 or 3.
Peter Shute
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Syd et al,
One of the best pages on the web is here:
http://www.ojohaven.com/collectives/
I warn you though it can take hours to get off this page:-)
Very best
Alan
******************************************************************************* Alan McBride, MBO.
Photojournalist | Writer | Traveller | + Member: Australian Photographic Society American Writers & Artists Inc. International Travel Writers & Photographers Alliance National Association of Independent Writers & Editors Travelwriters . com Travcom New Zealand Regional Representative Australia: Neotropical Bird Club
http://web.me.com/amcbride1 http://www.worldreviewer.com/member/alanmcbride/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/alanmcbride http://www.twitter.com/alanmcbride
Good planets are hard to find; until we do, please, be green and read from the screen
Tel: + 61 419 414 860 Fax: + 61 2 9973 2306 Skype: mcbird101
P O Box 190 | Newport Beach | NSW 2106 | Australia
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Anyone got a collective noun for Wedge-tailed Eagles?Cheers
Syd
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Does anyone really use collective nouns for any useful purpose? According to Wikipedia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_noun#Terms_of_venery_.28words_for_groups_of_animals.29) they date from the 15th century and “were used by gentlemen to distinguish themselves from yeomen and others”. There are a few that are in common enough use to warrant everyone using them, e.g. a pride of lions, or more locally, a mob of emus, but for most of the rest, I’d bet that if you have to look up which word to use then hardly anyone else is going to know the word either, so you’re going to look pretentious for using it outside of poetry, or for fun.
There’s a list of collective nouns for birds here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collective_nouns_for_birds
There aren’t many there that wouldn’t raise eybrows if you used them. Some of them might be in more common use in scientific circles, I wouldn’t know. I suspect some might be in use in falconry, but none are listed there for eagles, maybe because the loose gatherings they apparently occasionally form don’t really count as a group, they just happen to be in the same area, although I’m happy to be corrected about that, I’ve never seen more than 2 or 3.
Peter Shute
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How about a Carrion of W-Eagles? given this is often the reason for seeing an aggregation of such birds.
Trouble is, all our numerous ex-Pom birders will probably think of this as a ‘groan!!’ movie(s) i.e. a Carry On
I just did a quick look via Google and this site offers 2 suggestions for your question Syd. aerie of eagles convocation of eagles
plus a couple of others caught my eye congregation of birds dissimulation of birds (= deceive, disguise ones intentions feelings??? – I don’t get this? I initially thought this was – dissemination – and would have thought it a more appropriate at times, especially for Wedgies
http://www.rinkworks.com/words/collective.shtml
Wendy
ps I had meant to contact (to correct) a Radio National show recently on which a panel participant mentioned a collective of Crows being a Murmur. Sadly I have forgotten which show. Could be a good collective noun for some other birds or other animal, but not Crows (ravens) I would have thought
Do you mean a collective noun or a collective pun, Syd?
LK
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