Snowy has had a busy time on its way to get here. A narrow win over the fabulous Indian Eagle Owl and another against the Long Ear.
Black and White had been another big surprise this year. It started off eliminating the early favorite, Spectacled Owl, by a single vote, and then the other strong newcomer, Mottled Wood.
Snowy is a joker from the far north. Big, well insulated, fluffy, and some of the best owl faces anywhere, Snowy is always going to be a difficult owl to beat. Everyone knows it, everyone lives it, and most importantly, it isn't just hype.
Black and White is a secretive owl of the tropics. It's long and slender, and all the pics we've seen have presented it with a very serious manner. With it stopping Spectacled, it doesn't look like charm always overtakes the right plumage or a strong air of mystery.
A lot of you doubtlessly would love to see Snowy as the champ, but Black and White has this far taken its part of the bracket by storm. It's time to end the ambitions for one of these two though. Upvote below for the one you want to advance!
Saw Whet vs Little, that was intense! That felt like the most back and forth out of any OotY match ever!
I was backing SW, but you Little Owl fans had me second guessing a lot! By the time I went to bed I was all "it would be nice to get Little Owl in there to shake things up."
But now we're in the quarter finals and things can get really interesting. All of last year's final 4 are still here, but the challengers are unusually tough, not just new guys that caught us by surprise and moved along by pure novelty. We have Screech, which is always a favorite, Black and White has been taking things by storm this year after a solid introduction last year, Buffy Fish has had a somewhat surprising resurgence of popularity after a weak showing last year, and the Flamulated Owl has been on fire like it was in the first OotY.
I think it's rare to be this evenly matched still at this point so while there is a potential for a replay of last year, that doesn't seem like what you guys are into, so I think this is going to be a very tough 4 matches to get this year's final 4 contestants!