rookery

noun

rook·​ery ˈru̇-kə-rē 

plural rookeries

1

a

: the nests or breeding place of a colony of rooks

also : a colony of rooks

b

: a breeding ground or haunt especially of gregarious birds or mammals (such as penguins or seals)

also : a colony of such birds or mammals

2

: a crowded dilapidated tenement or group of dwellings

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

This is the only rookery of its kind in the world that’s easily accessible and free to the public every day of the year. —Brad Japhe, Travel + Leisure, 9 May 2023

The declining water level uncovered a land bridge connecting an island rookery to the shore. —Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2023

California sea lions – the ones typically encountered in the Columbia River basin – breed in rookeries off California’s southern coast. —Gwozniac, oregonlive, 8 Apr. 2023

The Piedras Blancas Rookery is the only elephant seal rookery in the world that’s easily accessible, free, and open to the public every day. —David K. Li, NBC News, 12 May 2022

At the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, a breeding ground for the jumbo, bad-humored mammals just north of San Simeon, Ryan Riezebos and his wife, Lori, made the hours-long drive from the Central Valley recently for a look at the animals and the ocean along Highway 1. —Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2021

May Seabirds on the Bay: Sunset Cruise, 7-9 p.m., May 15, Sunset birding cruise tour of Biscayne Bay, scan the mangrove shoreline of the Crandon rookery for brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and over 30 species of birds, presented by the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station. —Cindy Kent, Sun Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2022

Still, the situation could improve as pregnant seals will continue to arrive at the California rookery and give birth throughout the winter. —Valerie Nome, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2023

The elephant seals who gave birth before the storms likely lost their pups, as few baby elephant seals remained on the rookery's beaches by mid-January, according to Noozhawk. —Valerie Nome, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1704, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

rookery

noun

rook·​ery ˈru̇k-ə-rē 

plural rookeries

: the place where a group of birds or social mammals (as penguins or seals) breed, nest, or raise their young