/trumpets and fanfare
Welcome, one and all, to the opening ceremonies of the 3rd Annual Owl of the Year!
They've delighted, educated, and entertained you for the last 12 months, and now we see which owls have captured your heart the most.
We've taken the top 16 from last year's event and ranked them by their average scores. Previous winners, White Faced Owl and Saw Whet Owl are still the top of the game, but it is anything but certain who is going to come out on top this year.
Even with just these competitors, there are going to be some bitter matches in the early rounds. But it's no free ride for the previous owls - they must compete against some looking for rematches and some newcomers to shake things up, and that is why we are here now!
Today I will be putting up 4 groups of 6 for you to vote on. The bottom 2 owls will be eliminated, and the winners of all groups will be ranked based on their final scores.
To vote is easy - just upvote any and all owls you like. Downvotes don't count, so don't try. I'll leave this open for the week, ending sometime Saturday (I'll be on vacation so I get to it when I can!) and then the official games will begin!
Good luck to all your favorites, and may the best owl win!
I cannot not vote for the only hibou in the round but I already have to vote for multiple owls at the time because the beautiful colors of the Spotted Wood and the Black and White are too beautiful to be ignore.
Is this still a hibou? The protrusions are part of the face, not a separate tuft of feathers, so they are not plumicorns.
From what I see, you would call this a Phodile calong. It was also named by a Parisian, so you may have a better ability to find what it would be properly called. Scientific name is Phodilus badius.
According to Wikipédia it is a chouette . I find it very hibou like. It doesn't matter: it is a nice owl!
There are a couple Asian owls that have this same type of trickery going on with their face shape.
Plumicorns are just a few feathers popping out the top of the head.
These bumps are the front of the face/forehead area and have much more structure. I don't remember finding a name for this, but that is why they're chouettes.
I do love this little oddball!