[ noun ] a breeding ground for gregarious birds (such as rooks) <noun.location>
Rookery \Rook"er*y\, n.; pl. {Rookeries}. 1. The breeding place of a colony of rooks; also, the birds themselves. --Tennyson.
2. A breeding place of other gregarious birds, as of herons, penguins, etc.
3. The breeding ground of seals, esp. of the fur seals.
4. A dilapidated building with many rooms and occupants; a cluster of dilapidated or mean buildings.
5. A brothel. [Low]
As a result, the expedition leader's advice to take an early Zodiac ashore and catch the last one back was worth heeding. On one of my trips ashore I watched a mass of chin-strap penguins in an odoriferous rookery high on a stony hillside.