A comment I just responded to made me think of the interesting collective nouns for groups of creatures: a murder of crows, a school of fish, a congregation of alligators, a shrewdness of apes, a memory of elephants, a superfluity of nuns (?), a pride of lions… Chukar need a collective noun. I think they’re feeling neglected, which might account for their behavior. I know some refer to them as “devil birds,” but calling them “a devil of chukar” doesn’t work for me because there is only one devil, and his name is Vanilla Ice.
I’m thinking of something close to the collective noun for ravens, an “unkindness,” but a bit stronger. “Pain in the ass” is, I think, too long. “Jihad” might work, but I’d rather it be an English word, although given the native lands of chukar might it be appropriate?
An expletive might do the trick, for I’m fairly sure every chukar hunter has uttered a string of such one or a thousand times during a hunt: a “f*&king of chukar”?
Perhaps naming them after a reviled but nonetheless admirable person? How does an “O. J.” or a “Cheney” or a “Kaczynski” of chukar sound?
Or maybe naming them after a method of torture might be best. A castration of chukar? A tasering or a waterboarding of chukar? Or maybe just something much broader in scope, which could encompass the entire endeavor of chukar hunting and the prey themselves: a “difficulty of chukar.”
What would you call them?
A difficulty works for me, but just for fun:
A Clatter of Chukar.
A scrape of Chukar.
A Bastard of Chukar.
An Affliction of Chukar.
An Ego of Chukar.
A Curse of Chukar.
A Hubris of Chukar.
I vote for “Curse.” Today exemplified it.
An insurgency of chukar.
They are, in fact, from ‘over there’ and they thrive ‘up there’
Excellent word. Wish I’d thought of that!
I like Curse and Affliction too. Sleeper Cell of Chukar? But of course, course is best: a fluck of chukar, making somebody who chases them a chukar fluckar.
I have not ever bird hunted. The little fellow in the photo is beautiful. A covey of chukar sounds nice. The collective noun for snipe is walk, which is also fitting. A walk of chukar. I know it isn’t what you are after, but you asked. BTW found out my river birds are herons not cranes.
Chukar ain’t no walk, girlfriend! Herons are related to cranes. Maybe a cranecousin of chukar?
a Humiliation of Chukar?
Oh yeah. I like that one! Makes me think of some others: a paranoia or a psychosis of chukar.