Barn Owls are everywhere! The Barnie is the most widely distributed owl in the world, found on all continents but Antarctica. They've even recently made it to New Zealand, possibly from hopping aboard ships or airplanes.
They are medium owls, primarily white, but come in a number of different patterns, have a very distinct heart shaped face, and the scream of a banshee. Whether it reminds you of an angel or a ghost, it is otherworldly and unforgettable regardless.
Barn owls have great hearing, even for owls, and we're involved in famous studies about owl hearing and how they can hunt in complete darkness.
White it's found its way almost everywhere, will it find your upvote today?
While the Mottled Wood Owl may be unfamiliar to a lot of you, once you see it, it's hard to forget. It is a large owl of India and Nepal with a wild mottled and wavy plumage.
In some parts of India, it is thought to be a bad omen, and it's haunting call gets it the name "fowl of death." If you ask me, some more data is needed before I'm convinced of its danger to humans. More typically it hunts larger insects, rodents, birds, crabs, and lizards.
Is this owl your kind of wild and strange? If it is, show it your support now!
#owloftheyear2025 #superbowl
Not a good morning for the Spectacled fans! 😔
This early favorite was narrowly ahead all day, but when I came to close the polls, who do I see perched on top of the leaderboard?
BnW takes round 2 by 1 vote!
I try to come off as impartial as I can while still chatting with everyone, but I had thought Speck had a good shot at getting to the final 4.
One never knows where the feathers will fall in Owl of the Year!
Nooooooooooo! Speccy wuz robbed!
I was very surprised! Black and White did well last year, but the handful of you all that comment really seemed pro-Spectacled. Shows some of the problems with early polling and small survey sizes 😁
I'm sad he's out, not only since I liked the Spectacled, but Black and White pics of high quality are much harder to come by. 😔