Up next is a pair of beautiful white (mostly) owls, the Snowy and the Barn.
Snowy, representing the “true owls” of family Strigidae, is coming right off a heated battle with Crested Owl that it only won with a 1 vote margin. Some have made it their mission this tournament to stop the attention seeking of Snowy and give someone else some time in the limelight. With that said, people around the world do love the Snowy and can’t get enough of this beautiful bird!
Opposing the Snowy, from family Tytonidae, the Barn and Bay owls, is the eponymous Barn Owl. While some barn owls we know almost nothing about, the Tyto alba we’re looking at today is one of the most studied owls, subject of many famous studies. They are found everywhere but Antarctica,and they don’t do too well in extreme cold, so you can find them most anywhere, though coincidentally not in many if the same places as Snowy.
Both are tremendous owls, but we’ve only got one banner spot left, and one of these lovely birds has got to say goodbye. Which will it be? Upvote your favorite owl now!
#superbowl #owloftheyear2024
Snowy Owl
The last pic is more worthy of the name ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ than what Rolls-Royce currently has to offer. They should think about their design choices.
Some photos I have to debate which ones to use, and others just scream out there’s no way you could not use this!
I had a similar pic ready to go, but this one blew it away.
The downside is now I have to try to find something even better if it goes to the next round or 2! 😅
Your choices should reflect the difficulties we face when voting. Well done!
These next 2 days are going to be fun, as I have to have posts ready with possibly no advance idea who the winners will be.
I’ve had off work for about half the tournament, but that benefit was negated by some unfortunate events, but now I get to return to work for the last 2 most hectic days of the tourney. 😖
I love running it, but my favorite part is still when it’s over! It’s a real marathon.
some unfortunate events
I hope it’s not too bad🦉
You know that you can take a break? If sports tournaments can do it - players need their breaks to recover - then Owlthletes are also entitled to have a day off (or longer). Please take care of yourself!🌻
The worst of it is over for now. I’ve discussed it briefly once on another community, and maintaining as much of my routine as possible has been very helpful. Without my job to keep me on any kind of schedule due to having to use up remaining sick time, this is the only real obligation I’ve had to anyone else and it’s kept me from getting into too much of a bad place.
Plus I mentioned in another comment, this is super fun for me, but a ton of work, especially at the end, so I’m just as excited to wrap it up and go back to less intense posting. I got a huge stockpile of premade posts ready to go, and I can do the end of year wrap up stuff.
These are some excellent pics! It almost isn’t fair.
I thought the Barn Owl ones were equally glamorous, but you guys don’t look to be in agreement!! 🤔
Edit: of course the second I post that, a bunch of views most have federated in, now Barn is only behind by 1. I feel I’ve been having some refresh issues lately and not sure if it’s my app or something with federation.
Barn Owl
That in flight picture is gorgeous! This was an even more difficult decision than GHO vs. SWO. Ultimately, I had to go with Barn Owl. I just love the pattern on its feathers.
I’ve got a great article from this week about Barn Owl coloration I’ll probably share this weekend. It studies why the Barn Owl is white even though it hunts at night when white is not the obvious choice for camo in the dark.
Excellent! I’ll look forward to it.
This is actually very hard. I ultimately went with the Barn Owl because it has such an iconic owl-y face but I really wish both could win.
I can guarantee you will see plenty more of both after the tournament!
It helps me gauge interest in different owls, and I’ve already started gathering some Crested and Spectacled pics since everyone liked them so much.
The White Faced Scops is a little challenge because I haven’t t got too many sources specifically for them, but my goal for the new year is getting more non-US and European sources added to my owl feed.
In a showing of how popular the Snowy can be, before I even got to write my comment, it’s already picked up 6 votes while Barn is empty handed. It’s obviously too early to guarantee how the rest of voting will go, but I haven’t seen that quick and powerful an opening this whole tournament!
Winner of this match faces the Eurasian Eagle Owl, which bested the Morepork with the help of Flaco having a very Ghibli photo. With that trick used up, does it have another ace up its wing to get into the finals? A GHO/EEO final would be very tough as they are quite similar overall.
Morepork should be commended for a great performance overall. It’s a quirky little owl who got far in this, with much support. I wish it the best of luck again next year!
