What Is a Group of Beavers Called?

What Is a Group of Beavers Called?

A group of beavers is called a colony. It’s a fitting term: beavers are one of the few rodents that build permanent, shared infrastructure — dams, canals, and lodges — that the whole group relies on and maintains together, generation after generation.

Where Does “Colony” Come From?

“Colony” is used the same way it’s used for ants, bats, or early human settlements: a group living together in one place, sharing labor and resources. For beavers, that’s a literal description. A colony occupies a single territory built around a lodge and, usually, at least one dam, and every member contributes to keeping it running — hauling mud and sticks, patrolling for predators, and repairing breaches after a storm.

“Family” and “lodge” work as synonyms because that’s essentially what a beaver colony is: a family unit sharing a home, rather than a large, anonymous aggregation like a herd or a flock.

Beaver Colony Facts

• A typical colony has 6 to 8 members: the breeding adult pair, this year’s kits, and yearlings from the previous litter who haven’t dispersed yet.
• Baby beavers are called kits, born in litters of 1 to 6 after about a 105-day gestation.
• Yearlings typically stay in the colony for one to two years, helping raise the newest kits, before leaving to find their own territory and start a colony of their own.
• Beavers are the second-largest rodent species in the world, behind only the capybara.
• Beaver dams don’t just help beavers — they raise water tables, create wetland habitat, and support fish, amphibians, birds, and countless other species. Ecologists consider beavers a keystone species for this reason.
• Colonies are territorial and mark their boundaries with mounds of mud and secretions called castoreum, warning other beavers to stay out.

Examples in a Sentence

“The colony of beavers had rebuilt the dam within two days of the flood washing it out.”

“A family of beavers moved into the pond behind the visitor center last spring.”

Other Names for a Group of Beavers

Colony is the standard, most widely used term. Family and lodge are both accurate, commonly seen alternates — lodge in particular doubles as the name of the structure beavers live in, so you’ll sometimes see it used for both the group and its home.

Read more in A Colony of Beavers, or see which other animals also form a colony.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a group of beavers called?

A group of beavers is called a colony. Family and lodge are also used as synonyms for the same group.

What is a baby beaver called?

A baby beaver is called a kit. Beavers typically give birth to litters of one to six kits.

How many beavers are in a typical colony?

A typical beaver colony has six to eight members: the breeding pair, this year’s kits, and yearlings from the previous litter.

Why are beavers called a keystone species?

Beaver dams raise water tables and create wetland habitat that supports many other species, so their presence (or absence) has an outsized effect on the surrounding ecosystem.

Is a beaver colony the same as a beaver lodge?

Not exactly. A lodge is the physical dwelling a beaver family builds and lives in, while colony refers to the group of beavers themselves. The terms are often used interchangeably in casual speech.