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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
In an article I just read about turkey vultures roosting on a water tower in a local town (their defecation is so acidic it actually corrodes the paint), it says "A group of vultures is called a venue...Vultures circling in the air are a kettle." We've gone through the various group-of-animals words before (i.e a pride of lions), but I've never heard of multiple names for different types of groupings of the same animal.
Anyone know any other examples of this?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I wuz thinkin' of a "kettle of fish" and a "school of fish" but I think that the "kettle" one is not an aggregate term but rather a true description of fish in a cooking pot.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I think geese come in differntly named groups depending on what they happen to be doing at the moment. They're a gaggle on the ground and a skein flying.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Swans, when they are on the ground or in the water, are a bevy, a herd, a game or a bank. When in the air, they are a wedge.
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
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it says "A group of vultures is called a venue...Vultures circling in the air are a kettle." I've heard of a wake of buzzards or vultures, W'ON. And a "viewing" would make more sense to me than a "venue", i.e. viewing in the sense of: A watch over the body of a deceased person before burial, sometimes accompanied by festivity. Also called viewing.Not saying the author of the article you are reading is wrong. "Kettle" just sounds a little 'fishy'. :) http://snipurl.com/gsemOops! I stand corrected, W'ON. Your author is correct. A kettle is another name for a wake of vultures. Groups of vultures spiraling upward to gain altitude are called "kettles". As vultures catch thermal updrafts they take on the appearance of water boiling in a pot – hence the name kettle. Turkey vultures have been reported by aircraft pilots to rise to as high as 20,000 feet and soar for hours without flapping their wings.http://snipurl.com/gseq
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