Ruffled feathers of a parliament of owls

Owls in a grouping, as we ornithologists know, make up a parliament. Thus, a parliament of owls. 788 owls make up a large parliament of owls – 543 members of the Strigidae, or true owl family, and 245 of the Tytonidae, or barn-owl family. Now, it seems that feathers of all kinds have ruffled with the recent suspension of 92 owls from both families, a record number of debarments for a single session. But if one considers 92 out of 788 of the birds being told to perch elsewhere for causing a terrible flap in the parliament, then, frankly, 11.68% owls being sent off to forage outside their parliament isn’t a terribly scandalous proportion.

In fact, what is odd is that all the suspended ullus happen to be from the non-ruling roost. So much for inclusivity in parliaments of owls. While many of these owls temporarily in the wilderness call their suspension a ‘murder of democracy’, they should know better. Since a gathering of crows, not of democracies, is called a murder.