A parliament is heading my way. Really! My niece Missy who is a gifted writer is also a talented crafter. She told me yesterday that she is sending, not a flock, but a parliament of owls my way and I should be watching my mailbox. She said that since they are nocturnal birds and will arrive by mailman during the daytime, they may be sleeping; otherwise, I could hear them hoot inside the mailbox. I’ll take pictures of them and post them as soon as they get here.
Curious about names for groups of birds, I looked up a few. They are ver-r-ry interesting and I wonder who decided all this and why and when. Anyway, here they are:
A group of crows is called a murder of crows. (Does that mean my latest cozy mystery could be called Moonlight Can Be a Group of Crows? No, it doesn’t have that special ring to it.)
When you see several robins on your lawn next spring, you could appropriately yell, “Spring is here! A round of robins is in the yard.”
Our majestic national birds, eagles, when they gather family and friends around, are appropriately called a convocation.
And, a number of those most popular birds for November, turkeys, are known as a rafter. Thanksgiving dinners served to a bunch, whole slew, crowd, lots of people would need a rafter of turkeys!
Speaking of turkeys, one of my favorite children’s books is A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting and Diane DeGroat.
Just how many owls does it take to make a parliament, do you suppose?
I’m guessing maybe three? ‘Cause if it’s just two and they have a difference of opinion, it’d be a tie and nothing would get done but with three…well, that’s a tie-breaker. However, we couldn’t have six or eight or any other even number because there’s the tie thing again in case of an argument, so maybe…no, I’m getting a headache. I’ll let the Whoos decide it.