Paging Maggie (or others) - Owl Question

kate_ce1995 · Post by **kate_ce1995** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:52 am

Hi Maggie,

I meant to ask this yesterday, but got sidetracked.

Yesterday morning between about 4 and 5 am, the owls that we have occasionally heard hooting in the woods behind our house were very raucus. If I had to guess what was going on, they were either fighting or mating!

Any ideas? I didn't think this was the season for mating, but then I know very little about owls. I don't even know what kind of owls these are as I only hear them after dark. It made me very glad that my footwarmer Tigger was in and curled up on my feet though.

Thanks,
Katy

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:20 am

Hi Katy,

It is a little bit too early for mating but they sometimes have territorial disputes since they are quite territorial. An Owl may also have caught a prey that was contributing to the noise level. It is really hard to say without actually hearing the Owl and the inflections and voice it used.

Regardless, to hear an Owl is special in itself.

Love, Maggie

kate_ce1995 · Post by **kate_ce1995** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:43 pm

Hmmm....maybe it was territorial. It did sound like occasional hoots were from farther away.

You say "a bit early" for mating. Do they mate before winter? It is neat to hear them...I just wish we would get an opportunity to see them once in a while.

Katy

annie oakley · Post by **annie oakley** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:58 pm

Not this spring but last spring we had the pair of owls that stay on our land, produce an off spring. He came soaring off the roof while Momma was teaching him to fly. He lit in a bush, never laughed so hard. Love Oma

Peggy · Post by **Peggy** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:20 pm

Did you know the names for these groups of birds???

A parliament of owls

A cast of hawks

A colony of penguins

A pitying of turtledoves

A rafter of turkeys

:turkey2:

Peg

Post by **tex** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:18 pm

Down here in Texas, I reckon our turkeys ain't that sophisticated - they still run in flocks. LOL.

Tex

kate_ce1995 · Post by **kate_ce1995** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:36 pm

Tex, it must be them fancy schmancy Canadian Turkies because VT turkeys also run in flocks!

Hee hee...guess its just us woodchucks that don't know any better!

Katy

Mars · Post by **Mars** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:43 pm

Here in my neck-o-the-woods we just refer to any number of animals together as

............bunch of

...............lots of

......................WOW - check out how many!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't know that Pegster..................who the heck comes up with these things!

Love,
Mars

Post by **tex** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:58 pm

Mars wrote:.........who the heck comes up with these things!

Probably the same individual who decided that a family group of feral hogs traveling together should be called a "sounder".

Love,
Tex

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:39 am

HAHAHAHAHA, Peg and Tex,

I've never heard of any of those words.

Rafter or flock, in either case, I was so excited receently to see 4 wild turkeys on my street (2 mothers and 2 young 'uns).

Love,

Polly

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:45 am

Morning All,

And here is a bevy of names for other gatherings of birds:

Common Names for Gatherings of Birds

Birds in general -A flock of birds, a dissimulation of birds, volery of birds

Bitterns A siege of bitterns, a sedge of bitterns

Chickens A peep of chickens

Choughs A chattering of choughs

Coots A cover of coots, a raft of coots

Cormorants A flight of cormorants

Cranes A sedge of cranes

Crows A congress of crows, a murder of crows

Curlews A herd of curlews

Doves A dule of doves, a flight of doves, a dole of doves, a cote of coves, a piteousness of doves

Ducks A paddling of ducks, a raft of ducks, a team of ducks, a dopping of ducks

Dunlin A fling of dunlin

Eagles A convocation of eagles

Eggs A clutch of eggs

Falcons A cast of falcons

Finches A charm of finches, a trembling of finches

Flamingos A flamboyance of flamingos

Geese A gaggle of geese, a skein of geese

Goldfinches A charm of goldfinches

Goshawks A flight of goshawks

Grouse A brace of grouse, a covey of grouse

Guillemots A bazaar of guillemots

Gulls A colony of gulls

Hawks A cast of hawks, a kettle of hawks, a cast of hawks

Hens (chickens) A brood of hens

Herons A siege of herons

Hummingbirds A charm of hummingbirds, a troubling of hummingbirds, a hover of hummingbirds

Jays A band of jays, party of jays

Kingfishers A concentration of kingfishers

Lapwings A deceit of lapwings

Larks An exaltation of larks

Loons A raft of loons

Magpies A tiding of magpies

Mallards A sword of mallards, a flush of mallards, a puddling of mallards

Nightingales A watch of nightingales

Owls A parliament of owls, a wisdom of owls

Parrots A company of parrots

Partridges A covey of partridges

Peacocks An ostentation of peacocks, a muster of peacocks

Penguins A colony of penguins, huddles of penguins, a pride of penguins

Pheasants A bouquet of pheasants, a covey of pheasants, a nye of pheasants, a nide of pheasants, a nest of pheasants

Quail A bevy of quail, a covey of quail

Pelicans A squadron of pelicans

Plovers A congregation of plovers, a wing of plovers, a leash of plovers

Ravens A conspiracy of ravens, an unkindness of ravens, a constable of ravens

Rooks A building of rooks, a parliament of rooks

Snipe A walk of snipe, a wisp of snipe

Sparrows A host of sparrows, a quarrel of sparrows

Starlings A murmuration of starlings

Storks A mustering of storks

Swallows A flight of swallows

Swans A ballet of swans, a bevy of swans, a herd of swans, a whiteness of swans

Teal A spring of teal

Turtledoves A pitying of turtledoves

Turkeys A rafter of turkeys, a muster of turkeys

Waterfowl A plump of waterfowl

Woodcock A fall of Woodcock

Woodpeckers A descent of woodpeckers

Love, Maggie

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:30 am

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!!!

Most of these sound like somebody had too much time on their hands.

Thanks for the chuckles

Shirley

hazel · Post by **hazel** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:07 pm

Regarding crows, I never see a congress or a murder of them any more. They used to fly to their roost in the hundreds or thousands, but a couple of years ago they got killed off by, I think, the West Nile virus. Now we see maybe 3 or 4 crows once in a while. I wonder how long it will take them to come back. I think another group of birds, no wait, a parliament or wisdom of birds, that got hurt by that virus was the owls. You are lucky to have them, Katy.

Does anyone else notice crows missing or is it just in this neck of the woods?

kate_ce1995 · Post by **kate_ce1995** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:22 pm

Well, we don't have a shortage of black birds. Unfortunately I can't distiguish between crows and ravens. Some of the ones I see seem too big for crows.

Katy

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:30 pm

Katy,

In Vermont you do have Ravens and not just Crows.

Maggie