A murder of crows

Stopped at an interstate rest area, in the middle of The Big Cypress Swamp, a man approached with an interesting problem. He asked if I knew anything about birds. When I answered "yes," he led me to his car, which had a black vulture attached to the front grill.

The buzzard, which was stuck, yet still alive, looked uncomfortable. The man said that he had slammed into a "flock" of the birds on the highway.

I thought about correcting him, for you see the correct term is a "wake" of buzzards. animal group names, or collective nouns, are peculiar things. You can impress your friends with your Florida naturalist IQ if you learn a few of the basics.

Remember, it is a "gulp" of cormorants, a "bask" of alligators, a "brace" of ducks, a "convocation" of eagles, a "stand" of flamingos, a "business" of flies, an "army" of herring, a "passel" of hogs, a "smack" of jellyfish, a "romp" of otters, a "parliament" of owls, a "warren" of rabbits, a "shiver" of sharks, a "nest" of snakes and a "gang" of turkeys.

But I didn't correct the poor guy. The bird, you see, had punctured a hole in his radiator. We unhooked the poor creature, which waddled off to join his buzzard friends. The man? He called AAA.