Barn Owl (45) vs Bare Legged Owl (19) Lots of love came in for those fancy legs, but top seed Barn Owl easily walked away with a win here.

Screech Owl (19) vs Crested Owl (17) This one had me nervous due to low turnout for a well loved owl like the Screech, but he pulled it off. The humongous eyebrows of the Crested captured a lot of hearts though.

Long Eared Owl (23) vs Buffy Fish Owl (39) The under performance of my posts of Long Eared Owls continued. Perhaps due to a recent post, relatively obscure Buffy got a solid win. He may be a force to be reckoned with going forward.

Hawk Owl (16) vs Northern Pygmy Owl (43) Everyone left respecting the stern, serious style of the Hawk Owl, but Pygmy melted the most hearts with its tiny cute charms. With a possible matchup against the Little Owl in the future, which little brown puff will prevail?

Barred Owl (27) vs Morepork (28) This was a back and forth battle to the very end, with the pride of New Zealand sneaking a win out from current bad boy of the owl world, the Barred Owl. There's gotta be some heartbroken Barred Owl fans this week!

Tawny Owl (23) vs Blakiston's Fish Owl (36) BFO finally got his due in this match. Cuddly Tawny was my pick to win big going into this one. Once everyone got to appreciate the massiveness of the BFO, it picked up a pretty easy win over Europe's sweetheart.

Barking Owl (28) vs Little Owl (30) I thought the overnight votes were going to push Barking Owl over the top, but it never happened. Very close match all day though. This one was fun to watch, and Australia still has more owls left in the tourney.

Eurasian Eagle Owl (26) vs Sooty Owl (30) Speaking of Owl-stralia, the Sooty came out of nowhere, catching the much favorited Eagle Owl off guard. You guys got enraptured by the dark feathers with sparkles of the Sooty, and the Tytonidae owls are off to a great start over the Strigs.

With many more matches to go yet, what have been the highlights or heartbreaks for you so far?

Have you learned about any owls you didn't know about before?

Did you surprise yourself picking another owl over one you were sure you'd vote for untilb you saw the competition?

What are your overall feelings about the contest?

Do you have a favorite yet to win the crown?

Let me know below!

We've also just picked up our 2000th subscriber, so thank you good stranger! I'm glad we keep growing this community and keep having fun together every day learning about our feathered friends from around the world! Thank you all!

The Snowy Owl has achieved Internet legend status thanks to its O RLY? meme. It's a large owl, and the only owl with primarily white feathers. Males lose many of their black spots as they age, while females keep them. There found all across the Arctic region, but will migrate down south to more temperate zones. Recent studies show their populations may have been overestimated, as they don't always return to the same area. This is going to be one tough owl to beat.

The Black and White Owl is another unique looking bird. This is a medium sized owl from Central and very northern South America. It has a classic cartoon prison outfit of black and white stripes, a bright orange beak, and reddish brown eyes. It usually hangs out in the forest canopies as it primarily eats insects and bats. Is this unusual owl unique enough to get a win over one if the most popular owls?

Upvote your favorite below!

Another popular owl today, the White Faced Scops Owl has been known as the transforming owl. It has its regular face, it's puffed up defensive face, and it's Slenderman/Dracula face. This owl is found in Africa between the Sahara and the equator. It's cute, it's versatile, it's a tough owl to beat.

Living just outside the Great Horned Owl's range, the Spectacled Owl is able to dominate the rainforests from Southern Mexico to Argentina. It strikes quickly from a patched position to take out a wide range of rodents. Birds such as pigeons are also a regular target. This owl is antisocial and does not get along with other owls, or even other Spectacled Owls except during breeding season. Will this solitary hunter be score to conquer the Scops Owl?

Upvote your favorite below!

Saw many questions and comments in the recent post about the injured Ural Owl. A happy Ural Owl is the picture here.

Read a few articles on the subject and I'll put the best of it in comments below. Full links included if you want more or to see the article pictures.

There's 4 articles, so just allow me a minute to get them all posted for you.

Be sure you voted in both Owl of the Year posts today! Little vs Barking and Sooty vs Eagle

WINNER: SOOTY OWL 30-26

The Eurasian Eagle Owl had long been a hit on the Internet. Large, powerful, and beautiful, it always grabs your attention. Imprinted Eagle Owls are one of the more popular choices to work as rodent and bird control. It is one of the most widespread owls of the Eurasian continent. This big owl has a lot of start power; will it prevail today?

This was originally supposed to be the Greater Sooty Owl, but a lot of pics of the Greater and Lesser Sooty aren't labeled as such (almost as much fun as Little Owl vs Little Owl pics) so I'm going to lump them together since I'm not sure I can 100% identify then.

If you like the Barn Owl, you may also love it's dark Goth/Glam cousin, the Sooty Owls. These owls from down under have a great look, and a terrifying shriek call that would fit in great in a horror movie soundtrack. Their dark color makes them very hard to find, so they're rare birds to encounter. Is this dark, mysterious stranger able to take down an Internet celebrity?

Upvote this post and your favorite below! Also, don't miss out on the Barking Owl vs Little Owl from earlier today!

WINER: LITTLE OWL 30-28

Australia's Barking Owl is a pretty unique bird. It has a very wide diet, probably more diverse than any other Australian owl. It eats mice, small carnivores, possums (Australian ones, not American ones, big difference!) and even bats. It wouldn't be right to not show off this owl's namesake barking.

Barking Owl Sounds

The Little Owl, the owl of Athena and Minerva is a mythical symbol of wisdom in European legend. This owl is widespread across Eurasia, and was even brought to New Zealand's South Island. Unlike many other owls, Little Owl likes living near people, as it prefers hunting in orchards, hedgerows, and fields made by humans.

Can the historic cutie take a win from the puppy dog owl? Upvote your favorite below!

Don't forget to upvote the main post too so we can bring in new fans!

WINNER: Blakiston's Fish Owl 36-23

The Tawny Owl is one if Europe's most common owls. Known for its twit twoo vocalizations, this owl looks like a Teddy bear, a living plushie.

On the other side, Blakiston's Fish Owl is a monster of a bird. I feel I've failed to give you guys proper perspective of the size of this owl. This thing is like a werewolf with wings. There is a reason this bird was top of the pantheon of gods to the native people of northern Japan.

Can a cute medium size fluffy owl defeat the largest owl in the world?

Upvote your favorite below and don't forget to view on the Barred Owls vs Morepork as well!

I'm going to start by saying I'm not familiar with the source of this article, it definitely has a bias to it, but it talks about hybridization of the Barred and Northern Spotted Owls as a means of saving the NSO in a practical sense besides the proposed culling of 400,000 Barred Owls.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is going to hold public referendum soon to explore alternatives to sitting the owls, so this is an interesting view I haven't seen before that I'll need to learn more about the pro and con.

Don't forget to view for both Owl of the Year posts today!

Barred vs Morepork

Tawny vs Blakiston's Fish Owl

Both have been close races all day!

WINNER: Morepork 28-27

Today's first match is the Barred Owl vs the Morepork.

The Barred Owl is known for its versatility and adaptability. They are opportunistic feeders that can eat a variety of things and it's been able to extend its habitat from the eastern US to the west and Canada. This is viewed as a negative but many, as its aggressive personality can push out native species. This is also the owl known for attacking humans and pets to defend its territory. Are this owl's abilities a pro or con?

Up against this tenacious bird is the Morepork, New Zealand's owl. Also known as the Ruru and many other names, this owl eats mostly insects and some small mammals. It can fly quickly to catch insects while in the air, though it is primarily a perch hunter.

Upvote your favorite below!

Check back in later for the other match of today, the Tawny Owl vs Blakiston's Fish Owl!

BBC article

Some owls stay in one place all year, some migrate, and some like the Short Eared Owl just go wherever the food is.

They have wintering ground that often overlap their range for the rest of the year. If food and warmth are good enough, they will stay put, otherwise they just go south enough to get what they need.

This seems to be the case this year in Europe for them, as per the article.

In recent weeks, large numbers of the owls have been spotted at places such as the banks of the Humber estuary.

Wildlife guide Margaret Boyd, from East Yorkshire, said "so many more than normal" had been spotted in the area.

A "shortage of food" in regions like Scandinavia was thought have left the owls looking further afield, she said.

According to the RSPB, short-eared owls were "of European conservation concern" as their numbers were in moderate decline.

Speaking at Stone Creek, a popular but remote bird-watching site in East Yorkshire next to the Humber, Ms Boyd said the owls had so far been spotted "all the way from Northumberland down to Norfolk".

"Short-eared owls winter down on the saltmarshes and grassland of the Humber every year, but this autumn there have been so many more than normal," she said.

English voles had proved particularly appetising to the hungry visitors, Ms Boyd added.

She said the prospect of witnessing multiple short-eared owls in flight had proved tempting to bird-watchers and photographers from across the country.

"We're getting people from Birmingham, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and down from Newcastle," Ms Boyd said.

"These birds are so special. They're feeding, fighting for their own feeding territory. It's been amazing."

He said he thought the sightings of the owls would be plentiful "until at least February".

His friend added: "It's been really good for the last few weeks. It's fantastic to see so many of them together, which you don't often see.

"They're a very enigmatic species. Everyone seems to like owls."

WINNER: Northern Pygmy Owl 43-16

The stern looking Northern Hawk Owl was a huge hit recently in a series if perch hunting photos. This owl is found all across sub Arctic areas where it hunts rodents in pristine boreal forests. It's bold stripped look is an attention getter. It's also one of only a few owls that hunts both day and night.

The Northern Pygmy Owl is from Western North America. This tiny owl (6in / 15cm) sits practically invisible at the top of tall trees to wait for its prey. Previously featured here as the owl with eyes in the back of its head, will this little puffball be able to take down the mighty Hawk Owl?

Upvote your favorite below and be sure you voted in the other match today between the Long Eared vs Buffy Fish Owl!

WINNER: Buffy Fish Owl 39-23

The Long Eared Owl has a lot of what it takes to be popular here. It's spread across much of the northern hemisphere, long ear tufts, orange eyes, and a wide variety of looks and expressions. For some reason, it's never seemed to get as many upvotes as expected, so will this owl be able to pull out a win today?

On the other hand, the Buffy Fish Owl has just got a good response on a recent post. Though a relatively rare owl, being only found in the islands of Southeast Asia, this owl wins people over with it's relaxed look and somewhat derpy expressions. Will it's exoticness and subtle charm get the win today?

Upvote your favorite below, and check back in about an hour for the other match if the day, Hawk Owl vs Pygmy Owl!

WINNER: BARN OWL 45-19

First up, we have top seeded Barn Owl. This owl has the widest distribution of any land bird, so wherever you may be, there probably is one of these guys nearby.

Going up against them is Cuba's native owl, only member of the genus Margarobyas, is the Bare Legged Owl. Will those fancy legs be enough to win over an owl probably all of you are familiar with?

Upvote your favorite below!

Checked out this video today too see the clips of the bird show.

Was very nice to see the birds loose outdoors, playing and having fun. It looked like a good time, very nice facilities, and the animals seem happy and well taken care of.

There were other cool birds like kookaburras and caracaras as well, which are always welcome additions to a bird spot.

If I ever get to England, I'll have to see this place.

Don't miss the Owl of the Year matches for today. Be sure to vote in both. I'm not sure why one has more votes than the other or why people are liking the posts but not voting, but hey... You do you!

WINNER: SCREECH OWL 19-17

The ESO has to be a fan favorite. Tiny, comes in 3 colors, plumicorns, great vocalizations, this owl has so much going for it.

On the other side, we have the Crested Owl. This wildcard from Central and South America probably isn't familiar to you, but it takes much of what people love about the Screech Owl and cranks it to 11. Only member of genus Lophostrix, this little owl has HUGE plumicorns. Will it's flashy style be able to defeat such strong opposition?

Upvote your favorite!

So I got this together pretty last minute, but I came up with a bracket to try this out.

Starting tomorrow I'll put up two matches a day so we don't drag over the Christmas holidays.

I'll have one comment with a few photos for each owl, upvote your favorite one.

Score will be recorded as soon as I can get to it the next day, so we'll have about 24 hours for each match giving everyone around the world an opportunity.

If there's a tie, all snag a friend or something, I won't vote.

Hopefully this isn't too dysfunctional!

I'm curious to see how this goes and what your favorites are.

Any matches you look forward to seeing or dread having to choose between?

Photos by johnson163

I think these owls are very pretty, and I also like the look of their floppy ears compared with the other larger owls. These guys just look like they'd be your chill buddy.

Great variety of poses captured by the photographer. Let me know your favorite look.

Photos by johnson163

Found from India to Malaysia, this is the largest of the Scops Owls at a lengthy 9.50 in / 25cm.

There aren't too many owl podcasts I've come across, so I'll share this. I haven't listened to this I've yet, but I've heard others with this author. Her book has been very popular with the greater owl community this year, I see plugs for it everywhere.

Every winter in Connecticut, the snowy owls will pass through our state and can sometimes be spotted at the Connecticut shoreline. But they are just one of many owl species to look out for where we live.

Some cultures see owls as deeply spiritual creatures and as symbols of wisdom. Others see them as bad omens and as signs of impending doom. And that’s definitely impacting their populations.

Today, Author Jennifer Ackerman joins us to talk about her new book What the Owl Knows: The new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds and we explore the world of these incredible birds.

Show page with multiple podcast service links at bottom

Photo by Full Moon Images

This Short Eared Owl had gotten itself a bit inverted. Hopefully about to get a tasty treat.

Photos by Sure Milks

I felt we were due for an Athena genus owl, and you all know the Little Owl and the Burrowing Owl by now, so today we have the Spotted Owlet. This little puff lives in India through Southeast Asia.

From the photographer about the photos:

A small uncrested owl with a round head and a short tail. It is grayish-brown overall with white spots above while its underparts are white with brown bars. Note the distinctive white eyebrows and neck-band. Often active at dawn and dusk when it utters a loud “chirurr-chirurr-chirurr” laugh in addition to a variety of high-pitched squeals and whistles. Inhabits all kinds of open habitats but avoids dense forest and wetter regions.

Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, India. February 2015.

From doing a little reading, they seem to have a peculiar wake/sleep cycle. They seem to have a gland many vertebrates have, but was thought to be absent in owls, the pineal gland, which regulates melatonin. It is named the pineal gland because it looks like a pinecone.

Snippet from Wikipedia:

The brain has a pineal gland, formerly thought to be absent in the owls. Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation. Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.

I'll have to check this out more. This is a generic bird pineal gland. If it's supposed to look like a pinecone, it isn't the part I was expecting.

Photo by Fleur Walton

Sorry for the relatively low effort posts today, I'm traveling back home today.

Masked Owls are one of the larger Australian Tyto species. Formerly also known as Mouse Owls, from catching mice at homesteads. Habitat loss is affecting these guys, as it is for many owls, and this species is starting to be given conservation status in different areas.

From Wikipedia:

Masked owls follow the typical pattern of birds from the tropics being much smaller than birds from temperate regions. In this instance, Tasmanian masked owls are the largest and the largest of the entire barn-owl family. Among the species in the family, only the greater sooty owl is on average heavier than the Australian masked owl but the Tasmanian species is rather larger and heavier even than the greater sooty owl.

From Middle Tennessee Raptor Center

The many faces of Lucy.

Photos by pe_ha45

Came across this funny group of pics of a Boreal Owl heading out and immediately reconsidering its decision.

I linked the photographer's owl specific folder, they have some really beautiful Ural Owl pics, but I just posted one of those recently.

Enjoy!