A Parliament of Owls

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The technical term for collective nouns for groups of animals, by the way, is terms of venery. These form part of a larger trend in the late Middle Ages of adopting specific hunting terminology from French. Probably to make the practice of killing animals feel more respectable, I imagine. I won’t list all the terms here, but I will look at a few of my favourites: People often allude to the reputation of owls as bearers of supernatural danger when they tell misbehaving children, "the owls will get you", [66] and in most Native American folklore, owls are a symbol of death. Herons also live in rookeries, but groups of them are called a “siege,”“sedge” or “scattering.” Gulls can be called a “gullery,”“flotilla,”“squabble” or “colony.”

Another popular theory suggests that females have not been selected to be smaller like male owls because of their sexual roles. In many species, female owls may not leave the nest. Therefore, females may have a larger mass to allow them to go for a longer period of time without starving. For example, one hypothesized sexual role is that larger females are more capable of dismembering prey and feeding it to their young, hence female owls are larger than their male counterparts. [12] A “pod” of whales can also be called a “gam,”“herd" and “plump,” but a group of the narwhal whales is called a “blessing.” Lenders, E. W. (1914). "The Myth of the 'Wah-ru-hap-ah-rah,' or the Sacred Warclub Bundle". Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. 46: 404–420 (409). H. Melville Redburn xxxiii. 209 In the collective spars and timbers of these ships, all the forests of the globe are represented, as in a grand parliament of masts.

"Parliament Is" or "Parliament Are"?

Owls also vary in the extent of their geographic ranges. Taylor’s maps are very helpful and have few errors (though burrowing owls are shown living much too far northeast). Some owls are found nearly worldwide—the barn owl, for example. At the other extreme, some, like Xenoglaux, are limited to a few ridges in the Peruvian Andes. On the other end of the spectrum, it would be cute to see a “scurry” or “dray” of squirrels; a “raft” of otters or a “bale” of turtles. Mike Unwin, who has watched and admired owls all over the world, captures the essence of each species, while explaining the unique natural history that has made these silent assassins the most effective feathered predators of darkness. Along the way he describes a fascinating range of breeding and hunting behaviour, the unusual calls that have given rise to so much superstition, and the cultural impact of owls around the world. A group of owls is called a "parliament". [3] Anatomy Burrowing owl ( Athene cunicularia) Cross-eyed owl In our analysis of an anthology of Parliament of Owls by Adipo Sidang the issues that we discussed will be guided by various authorities who have commented on the

A shrewdness of apes: probably also because of the obivous intelligence of apes. Unsurprisingly, already taken as a band name Birds like Osogo, the Weaver, are meant to ‘lie low like envelopes,’ in the words of the belligerent if intelligent late Maa politician, William ole Ntimama.And in Adipo’s allegorical play, set in the Bird Kingdom, the owls have cast themselves as the only birds with the capacity to think intelligently and make ‘brilliant’ laws for the good of the Kingdom – which is ruled by a mysteriously malevolent Royal Owl, King Tula Nyongoro. You could say it would be highly plausible that C.S. Lewis read some of Chaucer's poetry at some point and potentially reworked "foules" to become "owls". Sexual dimorphism is a physical difference between males and females of a species. Female owls are typically larger than the males. [12] The degree of size dimorphism varies across multiple populations and species, and is measured through various traits, such as wing span and body mass. [12]

Other Words for a Group of Owls

While the auditory and visual capabilities of the owl allow it to locate and pursue its prey, the talons and beak of the owl do the final work. The owl kills its prey using these talons to crush the skull and knead the body. [26] The crushing power of an owl's talons varies according to prey size and type, and by the size of the owl. The burrowing owl ( Athene cunicularia), a small, partly insectivorous owl, has a release force of only 5N. The larger barn owl ( Tyto alba) needs a force of 30N to release its prey, and one of the largest owls, the great horned owl ( Bubo virginianus) needs a force over 130N to release prey in its talons. [31] An owl's talons, like those of most birds of prey, can seem massive in comparison to the body size outside of flight. The Tasmanian masked owl has some of the proportionally longest talons of any bird of prey; they appear enormous in comparison to the body when fully extended to grasp prey. [32] An owl's claws are sharp and curved. The family Tytonidae has inner and central toes of about equal length, while the family Strigidae has an inner toe that is distinctly shorter than the central one. [31] These different morphologies allow efficiency in capturing prey specific to the different environments they inhabit. A month ago, while vacationing in California, I came across a kiosk while on a wildlife walk at Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve informing visitors about the Anna’s Hummingbird. Along with other information, it mentioned that a group of hummingbirds can be called anyone of five words. a b Neuhaus W.; Bretting H. & Schweizer B. (1973). "Morphologische und funktionelle Untersuchungen über den, lautlosen" Flug der Eulen (strix aluco) im Vergleich zum Flug der Enten (Anas platyrhynchos)". Biologisches Zentralblatt. 92: 495–512. Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth (2003). "Systematic revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes)". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 43 (4): 55–91. doi: 10.1590/S0031-10492003000400001. a b c Lundberg, Arne (May 1986). "Adaptive advantages of reversed sexual size dimorphism in European owls". Ornis Scandinavica. 17 (2): 133–140. doi: 10.2307/3676862. JSTOR 3676862.

Today the few spotted owls that remain in the United States (they are nearly gone from Canada) have a new enemy. The closely related but more aggressive barred owl, abundant in the eastern United States, is expanding into the Pacific Northwest, where it pushes out the slightly smaller spotted owl. The US Forest Service has been discreetly culling barred owls in that region. Even so, the spotted owl could become the first North American owl to go extinct. For instance, a “Parliament” of owls refers to their perceived knowledge and wisdom. Owl groups also have been called a “Congress” or “stare,” but the 1950s children’s book “The Chronicles of Narnia” (which later became a movie), cemented Parliament as the go-to word for a group of owls. Dr. Keith L. Bildstein, Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: “No, I have not.” Houde, Peter; Braun, Edward L.; Narula, Nitish; Minjares, Uriel; Mirarab, Siavash (2019). "Phylogenetic Signal of Indels and the Neoavian Radiation". Diversity. 11 (7): 108. doi: 10.3390/d11070108. ISSN 1424-2818. The Puebloan peoples associated owls with Skeleton Man, the god of death and the spirit of fertility. [77]Radin, Paul (1990 [1923]) The Winnebago Tribe, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, pp. 7–9 ISBN 0-8032-5710-4. Deacy, Susan, and Villing, Alexandra (2001). Athena in the Classical World. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands, ISBN 90-04-12142-0. Mwalimu Consultancy Ltd, the chief analyst of this Set book believes this play is a political satire that highlights how bad leadership, tribalism and corruption can militate against the growth of a society, at the same time it also proves that women and people from minority groups ( like Oyundi the Fire-finch, a female day bird) can rise against all odds to bring change without necessarily engaging in violent protests. Most importantly, this play introduces a new perspective of engaging the youth and Kenyans in general insofar as civic consciousness is concerned. Stevenson, John (18 November 2020). "Small finlets on owl feathers point the way to less aircraft noise". Phys.org . Retrieved 20 November 2020. Mayr, Gerald; Kitchener, Andrew C. (2022). "Early Eocene fossil illuminates the ancestral (diurnal) ecomorphology of owls and documents a mosaic evolution of the strigiform body plan". Ibis. 165: 231–247. doi: 10.1111/ibi.13125. ISSN 0019-1019. S2CID 251455832.