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.

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

Photos by johnson163

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

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!

Photos by Mandenno Photography

The Great Grey Owl is generally considered the largest owl in the world by overall length. It also has the largest facial disc.

It is found all across the Northern hemisphere. It prefers coniferous taiga forests, but has been found in places as far south as around 40°N and sometimes lower on rare occasion.

The actual "size" of a Gray is easy to misunderstand. They are about 70% feathers, and are outweighed by many other owls. Grays just have very long and fluffy feathers.

For actual numbers I'll just share their Wiki entry:

In terms of length, the great grey owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian eagle-owl and the Blakiston's fish owl as the world's largest owl. The great grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the genus Bubo. Much of its size is deceptive, since this species' fluffy feathers, large head and the longest tail of any extant owl obscure a body lighter than that of most other large owls. The length ranges from 61 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in), averaging 72 cm (28 in) for females and 67 cm (26 in) for males. The wingspan can exceed 152 cm (5 ft 0 in), but averages 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) for females and 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) for males. The adult weight ranges from 580 to 1,900 g (1.28 to 4.19 lb), averaging 1,290 g (2.84 lb) for females and 1,000 g (2.2 lb) for males. The males are usually smaller than females, as with most owl species.

Photos by Don-Jean Léandri-Breton

Marsh Owls are from southern Africa. As the name would indicate, they live in marshes or open grasslands.

They're an ground nester like the Short Eared Owl, and its habitat is being affected by existing agriculture. They are currently not listed as endangered though, probably due to their fairly wide distribution.

Photo by eivind-b

Cute expression on this owl. I'm thinking it's a Barking Owl. It wasn't Identified by the photographer.