Both entrants today have had very solid campaigns so far. The Great Horned beat the Sooty and then had a major win against the beloved Burrowing Owl. Saw Whet got past the Barred Owl and the well liked Buffy Fish Owl. No one could deny either if these owls has a place in the final four.
Great Horned is a legend. Large and powerful with a bellowing hoot. The mightiest hunting owl of the Americas. They have a 5ft / 1.5m wingspan, and only the Snowy outweighs it. Ask someone to describe an owl to you, and they will likely describe to you the mighty Great Horned.
Saw Whet is short and sweet. It’s one of the smallest owls, with a chirping call that is quite unique. Though small, its diet is more similar to an owl like the Great Horned than the diet of other small owls. The charming face belies wonderful hunting talent. It migrates to follow its opportunities for success, and that’s what it’s looking to do today.
Who will be your third banner owl and semi-finalist? Upvote them now!
#superbowl #owloftheyear2024
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At least it made it much further than last year!
GHO still got a lot of love, and Eagle Owl is still here with pretty equal greatness. Eagle vs SWO in the finals i think would be really good for a closer.
Yes ! And SWO is honestly stunning.
I won’t be upset is WFS wins, but I’m all for having a new mascot for the next year. It’s very close so far, this one is going to be tense!
A new winner would be nice but what can we do if the owl lovers choose to express their steadfast love for WFS 🤷
We will be stuck with just the hundreds of other owls I post during the year… 🥺
😜
Superb…owl… Hahaha… SuperbOwl… Superbowl! But… Superb… Owl!
Classic Owl vs Pixar Owl
Not Pixar, but there is a Disney/Titmouse movie this year based on the Saw Whet from the Rockefeller tree the other year!
I haven’t gotten to see it yet.
Thanks for the reminder! I had forgotten about this.
That’s what I’m here for!
Saw Whet Owl
I once participated at a bird banding station that was set up for saw whet owls. To check their weight the birds were turned upside down in tiny tomato paste cans and put on a scale. They are so tiny when the floof gets compacted.
Haha yes, I’ve seen the canned owl in videos! I went to one last year but we didn’t catch anything. Still got s’mores though and got to see some live birds and handle some specimens.
They’re mainly feathers and eyeballs with some stuff attached to hold it all together. 😁
Great Horned Owl
GHO for the win! 🤩
If ever an owl deserved to be called “Great”, it’s this one!
Vive le grand-duc d’Amérique!
Vive tous les grands ducs !
Saw Wheat! Look at those big, wet eyes and nervous, on-the-verge demeanor
Not too many better for expressions!
Boreal is similar though but a bit rarer of an owl.
Noooooooooooo! Oh the dreaded match up . . . GHO, the obvious owl-of-owls, or the chirrupy owl with the heart of gold . . . it’s brutal I tells ya.
Fine. I know GHO will forgive me. Saw Whet ftw.
GHO will not have any more disdain for us than it did before, I promise! 😉
Wow, my picture made it :D
Well you didn’t say no when I mentioned it, and everyone really liked it, so I assumed you’d be good with it supporting Team Saw Whet!
I told you it was as good as any pro pic and I don’t lie to you guys!
Plus I want you guys to always participate as much as you are willing. This place is for you, I just fill in the holes.
And I’m an example of an amateur who got lucky. Saw Whets can’t take a bad picture ;)
Mostly true! I still don’t share any owl pitching its pellet though. It just is not a photogenic process! Too much like the South Park ep where everyone is… eating in reverse… 😝
ok I am a bit influenced by the americas best mascot here. I feel like the one on the left is going to tell me where I can get a great deal on eyeglasses.
Those mailers are so hard for me to pitch in the recycling! I usually let them sit around a few days. Marketing finds a way to get to everyone!
Saw-whet is so adorable, but going by sound I have to give the Great Horned its due. Heard one the other night, and considering I live on a busy Los Angeles street near the 405, and have double glazing, that’s impressive. Attaboy, Horny!
I tried to look up an easy explanation but couldn’t find one, but low frequency sound travels further with less dispersion and also travels through other objects while losing much less energy.
This is why you can hear the owl from a good distance over all the background noise and through your surroundings. It lets it get its message out through the forest (or urban jungle) it calls home!
Someone else is going to have to ELI5 the physics though!
Not a physicist myself, but yes! It’s how elephants keep track of the family over vast distances, with low notes humans weren’t aware of until Katy Payne felt the infrasound vibrations from zoo elephants and published her study in the 1980s
What a small world the bioacoustics world seems to be!
I went to look her up, and saw the elephants came after studying whale sounds with her husband.
That reminded me of the guy that proved owls (barn owls specifically) can hunt in total darkness using their asymmetrical hearing. After I made this post going over the original study, someone recommended I share it with the bioacoustics community. Someone there told me that guy and his wife also did the ground breaking work with whales.
The Barn Owl / whale guy is Katy Payne’s husband, Roger Payne! What a huge amount of discovery for a couple. They’re like a non-irradiated version of the Curies mixed with Dr Doolittle!
I will be sad to see GHO go, but I had to vote for Saw Whet. ❤️ I know it has what it takes to be Owl of the Year!
Saw Whet has been doing amazingly well thus far. It is very consistent in cuteness between photos, and while they don’t have the color variations that GHO do, the range of pattern variations they have provides a subtle change in each photo, which makes every one a bit unique.
There isn’t much chatter in the comments praising the White Faced Scops, but you guys sure are voting for it! Though there was a lot of vocal support for Spectacled, it was no match for the current champion.
Both Saw Whet and GHO have been maintaining a tally that comes close, whoever moves on from today’s match is still going to need a peak showing if they want to dethrone the champ.
