The coot is a water bird. I’ve seen dozens at a nearby lake. So I thought it appropriate to devise a collective name: codger. “A codger of coots” sounds right to me.
Wikipedia has a long list of collective names for animals.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Coot collective
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Would a “codger of coots” count as a tautology as I’ve heard of coot being used for a stupid person (usually “you old coot”)?
Back circa 1994 one of the most popular pages on my personal website was a small list of collective nouns. I’ve semi-resurrected it here: https://shallnot.bearblog.dev/nouns/
To my mind, that’s what makes it fun. But also, I’d defend the word by noting that the birds are of all ages. And codger, minus its real meaning, sounds to me so much like a collective name.
But also, also — I didn’t know you had a website/blog. I’ll be taking looks.
I like it! I see them bobbing on the lakes here when they pass through--I will enjoy thinking to myself when I see them next spring, Oh, look! It's Michael's codger of coots!
I look forward to seeing them in warmer weather again too.
@shallnot - On your website I noticed that a group of bears is called a sloth. That led me to wonder what a group of sloths is called. It's a snuggle, at least according to this site. (I don't think that that's official.)
That’s an adorable collective name. Squirrels everywhere should be envious.
Jan and I volunteer at Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary during the Crane migration. In tonight's training session I learned that a plural of cranes is a "calamity", which makes sense when you hear them.
What a memorable collective name.
According to a bird count at nearby lake today, there were just two coots on hand. Hardly a codger. Just a couple of old (or young) coots.
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