What Is a Group of Fowl Called?
A broad, old English term covering everything from the barnyard to the wetlands.
A group of fowl is called a plump, with roost, skein, and trip also used depending on context. “Fowl” is a broad, older term covering domestic poultry as well as many wild game birds.
What Is a Group of Fowl Called?
Plump is the general term for a group of fowl resting or gathered together, a word shared with several waterbird species. Roost describes fowl settled together for the night. Skein describes fowl in an organized flight formation. Trip is an older, more general alternate.
Where Did the Name Come From?
“Fowl” is an old, broad English word for birds generally, particularly those hunted or raised for food, covering everything from farmyard chickens and ducks to wild game birds like grouse and pheasant. Because the term spans such a wide range of species and contexts, its collective nouns tend to be general and functional, describing where or how the birds are gathered rather than any single distinctive behavior.
Fowl Facts
- Broad category: “fowl” traditionally includes both domestic poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese) and wild game birds, rather than referring to one species.
- Ground and water dwellers: most fowl species spend significant time on the ground or water, generally weaker or more limited fliers than many songbirds.
- Long domestication history: chickens, among the most common domestic fowl, were domesticated from wild jungle fowl in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago.
- Important food source: domestic fowl have been a primary source of meat and eggs for human populations across nearly every culture and continent.
Example Sentences
- A plump of fowl settled along the marsh edge as the sun went down.
- A skein of fowl passed overhead, heading south for the winter.
Other Names for a Group of Fowl
Plump describes fowl gathered together, especially resting. Roost is specific to birds settled for the night. Skein applies to organized flight formations. Trip is a more general, less specific older alternate.
🧠 Test Your Fowl Knowledge
Three quick questions. See what stuck.
1. What is a general term for a group of fowl?
2. What does “fowl” traditionally include?
3. Where were chickens originally domesticated from?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of fowl called?
A plump, with roost, skein, and trip also used depending on context.
What does the word fowl mean?
Fowl is a broad, older English term covering both domestic poultry and wild game birds, rather than one specific species.
What’s the difference between plump, roost, and skein?
Plump describes fowl gathered together, roost describes birds settled for the night, and skein describes an organized flight formation.
How long have chickens been domesticated?
Chickens were domesticated from wild jungle fowl in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago.
A Word as Broad as the Barnyard
A plump of fowl covers a lot of ground, quite literally, spanning everything from the farmyard chicken coop to a distant skein crossing the autumn sky.