This matchup brings us a set of very distinguished looking birds.
The Flammulated Owl developed a very rabid fan base last year, with you guys calling it the "Ent Owl" as it resembles a living tree. The owl's name refers to the smoldering ember patterns that only enhance its great looks. It is a small owl, slightly larger than the Elf Owl, but has a surprisingly deep hoot. They are a migratory species, leaving Canada and the western US in the winter to go down to Latin America. Flammulated Owls, like the Long Eared Owl, is another owl that actually doesn't mind being in groups of its own kind. They prefer pine forests and eat insects.
The Dusky Eagle Owl hails from India to Malaysia. It is a large owl, mostly nocturnal, but will come out during the day, especially if it is more cloudy. One interesting fact is they only nest in abandoned nests or one particular bird in 2 or 3 particular kinds of tree! I'd love to tell you more, but they are one if the least studied owls, so hopefully the mystery will add to its allure!
#superbowl #owloftheyear2024
Tough matchup out of the gate for Flammy, dang.
I'm glad I took the time to do an actual seeding process this year. Even the matches that haven't been close still felt fairly competitive to me. At least for me, it still feels like this is an actual competition with real stakes, even though I know it's completely meaningless. ๐
Meaningless?! I think you underestimate the superbowl community's fickle subjective whims!
You guys always keep me pleasantly surprised! ๐
Dusky is very beautiful. This is an interesting match imo bc so far it's kinda been 2 of similar types and these guys are so different. Flammie is the small owl in my bracket, except Burrowing
I love how dark and mysterious the Dusky is, but Flammy is like a Screech Owl on fire, uh, in a good way ๐
A very hard choice and I'll be sad to see either one go.