WINNER: WHITE FACED SCOPS 63-52
White Faced Scops has had a similar time to the Snowy Owl. Lesser known, but widely recognized, it has beaten the large Spectacled Owl, the tiny Saw Whet Owl, and has just edged out another long time favorite, the Burrowing Owl. Whitey has been a bit of a dark horse, stacking up wins while still staying under everyone's radar as to making it to the final 4 today. All eyes are on him now though.
The Screech Owl is lived by almost all. It has the angry potato charm of the little brown owls, but adds different colors, more heavily patterned plumage, and a pair of adorable plumicorns. It's the last of the top 4 seeded owls to remain in the tournament. Will the Screechie be able to hold its own today, or will the White Faced take out the last of the original top 4?
Vote now!
I'm sticking with my little Zoidberg-lookin friend Scops for now. But Screech really gave Scops a run for its money.
Do you have a bracket system I'm not aware of or is this all just freeform fun?
*oops... saw the bracket
Yup, this weekend should be the end of this. It's been a tremendous amount of fun, but also a ton of work, so I'm feeling relieved the end is close.
I came up with the original bracket mainly by how familiar i assumed people were with some basic owls, and then grabbed some more from the various genuses I felt people should be aware of. The Fish Owls and Sooty Owls have benefited greatly, as well as the Flammulated Owl and Morepork/Ruru.
With there being over 250 living owl species though, there's over 200 not in this tournament, so plenty left to come!
It's been a ton of fun! I'm excited to see how it turns out! Thank you for your passion in arranging all of this. It hasn't gone unnoticed. It's fun, it fosters awareness, and it's something that needs to be shared. Never feel obligated to continue with it if it becomes overwhelming, but you've given us quite a wild and educational ride. It's been a real hoot.
I appreciate it! I'll keep posting, but I'll be able to do it on a looser schedule and be able to go back to a pic or 2 instead of a dozen a day. With the holidays coming up, most of us will be doing other things as well, so it's a nice time to have the tournament wrapped up.
I'll be doing some year end retrospective stuff too that will help the newer arrivals catch up and remember some highlights for the ones that have been here.