Read expert insights on Colony, Warren, or Fluffle? Visual Proof of What Rabbit Groups Are Called.

A frequent error during wildlife identification involves conflating true rabbits with hares. They belong to the same family, Leporidae, but diverge entirely in lifestyle. Hares are larger, have longer hind limbs, and live above ground in small depressions called forms. Because hares do not construct burrows, they never establish colonies. When hares gather during the spring mating season, historical texts classify them as a drove of hares or a "down of hares."

Reproductive terms also require precision. A single birthing event produces a litter of kits (short for kittens). While kits remain tucked away inside fur-lined ground hollows, naturalists refer to the cluster as a nest of baby bunnies. Cottontail rabbits native to North America (genus Sylvilagus) differ significantly from their European relatives. Cottontails lead mostly solitary adult lives. When several cottontails gather on an attractive patch of clover, it is usually a loose congregation driven by immediate resources, not an integrated colony.