this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025

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Closed - 2025 Owl of the Year Qualifier - Group A (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by anon6789@lemmy.world to c/superbowl@lemmy.world

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/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!

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[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 47 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Barking

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago

This is a falcon pretending to be an owl. It doesn't stand a chance in this competition.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago

Black and White

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Barred

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Chicuatli! (maybe...)

Backing this one and the barn owl if they get thrown in.

I'll once again be backing my tecolomeh.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Barnie is already in at a very respectable 6th seed.

Barred just missed getting a free pass at 17th place last year, but I'm hoping it gets some love due to being a fugitive of the US gov right now.

I just saw there is a place, Tecolotlán, "the place of the owls", which has a very crowded coat of arms, but is crested by one large owl.

This was the best image I could find of it, though it would be helpful to have a bigger one to see what all is going on here, it seemed they didn't want to leave anything out of it! 😅

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A fantastic find!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't help but love a society that honors owls so much!

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They honored them because they were afraid of them. Owls were considering portents and harbingers of death in a lot of Aboriginal American cultures.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They still get a lot of hate in many parts of the world from holding similar beliefs. Respecting them as an omen is one thing, but when they start hurting them to keep them away is something else.

I avoid sharing those stories usually because they're usually real downers and I don't know anything else really about the people still hating on owls. I don't think they should be torturing or killing them, but I don't want to be weighing in on random ethnic minorities, as I'm sure they get enough of that already.

Owls are a bit spooky if you don't know what they are, but that has nothing to do with them, we're just often afraid of the unknown and mysterious.

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't have any direct anecdotes about the killing of owls in Mixtec Pueblo culture. That being said I would not be surprised by such things. They had a tendency to sacrifice quite a few organisms.

If they killed owls for ritualistic purposes it's not like they treated humans any better.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't say that I really understand animal sacrifice, as it goes opposite to a lot of my personal choice of actions, and while most of my understanding comes out of looking up things I've come across in historical fiction, there does seem to be respect for the natural world behind it.

The Ainu of Hokkaido and Sakhalin had bears and the Blakiston's Fish Owl as some of their highest animals they paid respect to. The physical body was just a disguise of their gods, and they felt if they treated the animals well, the gods would look favorably on their village and keep providing them with what they needed to survive. They would hand raise baby animals to show their care and generosity, and then sacrifice them at the end of the year.

The sacrifice was not to other gods, but to the animal itself, as a sendoff back to the realm of the gods after being shown generosity by the people. The meat and furs were a small gift from the spirit within the animal.

Again, my life experience is completely different to what theirs must have been, and I can sorta make some sense of it. From the Wiki article on the sacrifice I don't know if I'd use any of the methods they used in the drawings for a humane execution, but I can only assume it made some sense to them. I'm off to go deer hunting after Thanksgiving and then the following weekend going to an animal rehab conference to learn new things to save wild animals, so I probably don't make sense to other people sometimes either.

Native people nowadays are still doing a lot to protect what is left of our waterways, forests, and animals, so there is still a strongly implied reverence to the natural world that is more up front than it seems to be with non-indigenous people. As long as people are doing the best they can to their understanding, it's hard to ask for anything more.

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

so I probably don't make sense to other people sometimes either

No I get that.

I'm a vegetarian because I hate animals (I actively despise pet dogs). I never understood the compulsion of people to pet, disturb, or own wildlife out of amusement/joy. Animals and wildlife need to live away from me. Emphasis on "live" since their role in biodiversity serves to keep me healthy more times than not.

That being said I find biology and evolution fascinating. Also as long as they're outside my window deer, racoons, hawks, bats, etc are majestic in terms of visual beauty.

The spiders in my basement and I have agreed to a treaty that has halted hostilities.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Oh, very interesting to learn those things about you!

I miss having pets in some ways, but in other ways not, and that was one of the things that got me volunteering at the clinic. They weren't animals born to be commercialized, they are our native species.

While petting them is not so much a thing, as they aren't into that, I still get to touch a lot of things most people never will, and I get an authentic look into their private lives. It's not a buddy relationship like with pets, it's a real sense of giving back to my local wildlife. I don't get cuddles or signs of affection, I just know I didn't what I could to help them get back to the wild, if possible.

I love my home spiders at this point. Small ones I let roam and just don't tell Mrs 6789 about, but the big ones I help back outside to hopefully do their thing somewhere else. I think wolf spiders are cool, but I still don't wish to be surprised by one in my slipper or what not.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The traveling poet owl!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Pray, tell me, good squire....

Whoooo cooks for you? Whooo cooks for you all?

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oriental Bay

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

According to Wikipédia it is a chouette . I find it very hibou like. It doesn't matter: it is a nice owl!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

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!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ashy Faced

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I feel that she squints at me jugmentally. Her color are beautiful as well but I want to see more that just a barn owl. I'm going to be very jugmental this year but so be it.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No more than just a Barn Owl?!

You would mistake these 2?!

☺️

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

After the jugement, the anger. This is like the barn owl's strong but quick-tempered big brother.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

You are too much! 😊

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

Spotted Wood

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Woot! It's þe event I most look forward to every year!

Thank you for all þe hard work you put into þis.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I love that you guys enjoy it so much!

My favorite time is when it starts, and my second favorite is when it ends 😄

You still looking to White Face retaking the title or you got your eyes on another?

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I see you've lined þem up for a potential show-down þis year.

I'm going to try to focus on some of þe less frequent winners. WFS will always be my favorite, but I've been liking BFO and Spectacled þis year.

Will I have þe willpower, is þe question. Great line-up; I don't recall of burrowing always make it into þe contest, but I'm glass þey're here þis year.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

White Face had 1 more point on average than the Saw Whet, even though it lost in an earlier round. It just lacked a few supporters on the day it needed them, or others like yourself still loved it, but decided to see another owl win overall.

Spectacled totally has a shot this year. The love it's gotten this year is much greater than past years. It's got good positioning, and a lot may depend on how people feel about Snowies this year.

Burrow Owl always seems to underperform here, while being popular perennially with the Internet at large. Maybe the bulk of Burrow fans are more meme community people than Superbowl people? I can never understand why they haven't been in the finals.

All I can really say is check in every day starting next week to make sure you don't miss the chance to vote! There's usually a couple tiebreakers that could have used those last few votes.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

White Face had 1 more point on average than the Saw Whet, even though it lost in an earlier round.

If you're doing to lose, losing to Saw Whet is no shame.

Spectacled totally has a shot this year.

Þat's where my money is þis year. I'm secretly kind of hoping WFS is eliminated before þe final round so I don't have to (again) choose between two of my favorites.

You know, Burrow is an interesting case. I wonder if it's because þey're unique and interesting, but in a beauty pageant such as OOTY, þey're lacking a little pizzazz?

I'm trying to convince my wife to vote þis year, but she has little interest in Lemmy ¯\(ツ)/¯

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've thought somewhat similar about Burrowing Owl - they get memed fairly often, so they didn't have that shiny new wow factor, people already know them, so even if they like them, they see someone like Speck that is new and exciting.

I'd be thrilled to see Spectacled go the distance. It's a great bird, good size, very distinct, yet simple enough it's easy to remember.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Very distinct! You know I love WFS because þey have all þe traits - prominant riktal bristles, ear turfs, adorable tiny package, interesting markings - but þose are all characteristics oþer owls have (maybe not all in one perfect package). But Spectacled is uniquely distinct, isn't it? Have you seen anoþer species wiþ þose markings?

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Spectacled is genus Pulsatrix and is related to:

Band-Bellied Owl (looks like Spectacled x Barred)

Tawny-Browed Owl (someone played with the color settings or added a sepia filter)

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh. Oh þe look on þat Band-Bellied owl's face. Oh, my heart!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I'll do a post for you tomorrow to show them off!

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Go Milky Eagle!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Aww that's just a little splash of milk there 😍

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[–] MelonYellow@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Group B was pretty easy. This one’s more difficult to pick!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

I don't think many of us are used to elections where all the candidates are good. Our brains aren't ready for that!

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No Tawny Fish Owl? I'm devastated.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We have a Buffy Fish Owl. Not totally the same, but I find all 3 equally good looking.

I don't usually get any requests, but I can put him in Group D and give him a shot since you caught me early enough. I still want to get C and D out tonight.

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

Right right right! My bad I must have missed it :P i'll be happy to suppport any fish owl :)

[–] troglodytis@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You know what, Stuart? I LIKE YOU!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Burrow Owl didn't do as well last year as I had expected. They are gonna need more Bill Srs and Jonny Wursters showing up this year to stay competitive.

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

trumpets and fanfare

Hurray! Hurray!

[–] LordAmplifier@pawb.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Those are gonna be some tough choices. Last year's winner was a bit of a surprise, though it definitely earned the title. I don't have a clear favourite, yet, and it's gonna be fun to see who's gonna make it!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I feel Spectacled is both in a good bracket and has had a popularity surge here this year to have potential. Even without knowing who it will be pitted up against, it seems to have a recent and still ongoing boost of popularity.

I don't know if it's big enough to win against someone like Snowy, which it'd have to do eventually, but if we're looking for a surprise winner like Saw Whet was, it could be the one.

Mainly I've enjoyed it didn't go to the same owl both times, and I'm hoping we can get another new one. While I like almost all of them equally, that Snowy or Burrowing haven't won so far has been a bit of a puzzle to me. Perhaps they've already enjoyed too much prior internet fame. Our community seems to enjoy the underdogs a bit, which is my theory on why White Faced Owl was popular until the end of last year's games, so much so that it still ranked higher overall than the actual winner.

It's always fun to see what you all decide to do 😄

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Pass

Barking 48
Black n White 38
Barred 36
Ashy Faced 33

Dropped

Oriental Bay 32
Spotted Wood 31

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