Wow, those semi-final matches were intense! There was so much back and forth throught the day.
Snowy and Eagle had a number of changes in position during early voting until Eagle Owl got the advantage and stayed ahead for the final few hours.
Saw Whet and our returning champ, White Faced Scops, battled it out for the whole 24 hours! I couldn’t say how many times each was on top. The Scops had a fairly easy run of things until the little scapper finally made him work for it if it wanted to stay on top. Finally, with just a handful of last votes, Saw Whet held the lead until time ran out. The champ was defeated!
Now is the moment we’ve all waited for, the final showdown of the tournament! One owl large, the other small, but today they are here as equals. Only one of them will be our Owl if the Year though!
Both of these owls have earned their places. Saw Whet became a fan favorite, but had some very close matches, especially considering it had some rather tough opponents at every stage. A last win over the Great Horned Owl cemented this little bird as a true fighter and gave it what it needed to finally stop the Scops.
The Eurasian Eagle Owl was barely slowed down by the even larger Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the former fan favorite Flammulated Owl, and though the Morepork ran a very strong campaign, it wasn’t enough to outshine this massive and powerful owl.
You’ve faced many hard choices up until now, but this may be the hardest yet. It’s time to choose your new champion. On one hand, the mighty mini from the Canadian forests that punches above its weight and has beat all odds. On the other, an owl of undeniable strength and regalness, a true apex hunter. The time is here to decide: who is your new Owl of the Year?
Upvote your final choice now!
It’s so small!! I’m dying from the cuteness!
I tried to balance highlighting its wee stature while also keeping it large enough to see how cute it is! 😅
They’re so little! I know this, but it still amazes me
I thought their enclosure was empty the one time I got to see some. In my third it forth look, I finally found 3 of them picked into the back corner. Pretty much all I saw was 6 beady eyes watching me! 👀👀👀
So expressive! And very cute.
Saw Whet brand owls contain more cuteness per gram then the leading national brand!
That towel pic! 🥰 And what an impressive wingspan! lol
People love the towel, but that teensy wingspan really did me in! 🥰
Real David versus Goliath situation going on here!
In that last one it looks like it’s imitating the Eurasian Eagle. Love it.
It’s hard to find pics where it actually looks intimidating, but I picked that one and the side-by-side photo one to make it look a little macho like it’s standing up to the Eagle Owl.
Oh, and he’s back in the lead again now. I hope this one is as competetive as the last match.