This is it, my good people! We have come to the final match of this year's games. There have been many upsets, many new winners, and today we have a pair of wonderful owls that have paid their dues, taken some lumps, and after 3 seasons, have made it to this point.
Buffy has defeated Pygmy, Morepork, Eagle Owl, and the original champion, White Faced.
Screech surpassed Tawny Fish, the amazing eyebrows of the Crested Owl, last year's winner the Saw Whet, and finally the Snowy.
That's a lot of superb owls that have been unable to slow this pair down.
Let's review some stats of our combatants!
Buffy
Height: 16-19 inches / 40-48 cm
Weight: 2,3-4.6 pounds / 1028-2100 grams
Wingspan: 48 inches / 120 cm
Diet: Fish, crabs, frogs, reptiles, birds, insects
Unique Traits: Build less focused on stealth and hearing. Lacks silent flight feathers and has less developed facial disc, giving it a more spherical face. Has a hawk-like call. Large floppy plumicorns. Only lay a single egg per year.
Eastern Screech
Height: 6.5-10 inches / 16-25 cm
Weight: 0.26-0.53 pounds / 121-244 grams
Wingspan: 16 inches / 40 cm
Diet: Rodents, Insects, Birds
Unique Traits: Highly adaptable and opportunistic allows them to live remotely or among humans. Cavity nester. Flexible diet changes with the seasons. Available in grey, red, or brown. Highly effective camouflage. Fast (for an owl) flyer. Some beautiful vocalizations. Also well-plumicorned. Lays 3-4 eggs annually.
Both owls are very distinct, so with many different aspects to compare, neither likely has an inherent advantage. Buffy comes in with a slightly higher average score (51) but hasn't faced off against anything much like the Screech, other than White Faced, where it only won by a single vote.
Screech has an average score of 45, but has a huge win over Tawny Fish Owl, very similar to Buffy, where it won by a healthy margin (42-32). Buffy has a bit more of an established reputation compared to Tawny, so that could even things back out.
But numbers don't matter, old matches don't matter, this is all about the here and now!
Take a fine eye to these wonderful photos now, scour every minute detail, and see which of these owls deserves to take home the final victory and the covered OotY title.
Make your last upvotes now for your 2025 Owl of the Year!
Let's hear some shout outs for your favorite owl!
It's your last chance to say why your choice is the right choice.
They’re both such gorgeous creatures!
Thank you for arranging this, and for giving us all daily joy with your owl pictures and discoveries.
They really are both amazing birds and I'm glad we got to spotlight 2 different ones again this year.
As always, it has been a delight for me to see you all get excited for the event and to find new owls to care about. Many of you look forward to this all year, and it makes me so happy to see you get so passionate about owls.
With that said, I'm also thrilled as always that this is over so I can relax again! ☺️
I look forward to crowning our next champion tomorrow, whichever you all decide it shall be!
VOTE BUFFY FISH
Whaouh! It seems to be really good at wearing a crown!
Suits it, right?! :D
Yes! And your drawing is gorgeous.
So that's why the plumicorns naturally hang off to the sides! Eureka! 😀
The natural winner XD
Thank you very much ! :D
That is so beautiful! You drew that?! I love it!
Thanks, I did! Competition is neck and neck so I'm doing my part to get my fave to the top! (ง’̀-‘́)ง
Whoaaa that's amazing, beautiful picture!! But also - noooooo my baby screech is being robbed (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )
Screech is a fine owl but fish owls have my heart! I have to proselytize!
You captured the look of the face so perfectly I wasn't sure if it wasn't made by some drawing type filter or something, but then I looked at your post history and saw that you drew things.
Your zoomed in dong of the Drunken Fawn came up huge on my laptop here though, causing me to panic as people were walking by! That caught me by surprise. 😂 I'll wait until later to look at more of them!
Aaah! Damn, sorry! D: that should be tagged NSFW. I'll go fix that
No worries, I'm with the other derelicts in the basement, it just was not anticipated. Also very lifelike fwiw 😄
Smol! Fierce! Makes a great burrito!!
What more would it take to make a superbowl??
It looks so much like a cat here!
That's wrapped better than I've ever gotten anything from Chipotle, that's for sure!
I need to break some more language barriers to get us some wrapped Buffy's.