7d ago

2025 Owl of the Year Official Bracket

You've waited for it, and now it is here: your 2025 OotY lineup!

There look to be many competitive races right off the bat. There's an amazing assortment of owl type from around the globe, and in the third year, we've really refined the list of owls down to some of the best. Both halves of the bracket seem balanced, and no owl has what I feel is an easy path forward. This may be our best tournament ever!

My goal is to start the games Monday Dec 1 with White Face / Buff Fronted and Spectacled / Black and White.

In the meanwhile, take a look at the bracket and tell me which matches have you excited/anxious. Which are going to be the toughest for you? Who has the best chance of winning? Do you see one who you think is going to come out of nowhere? Will Saw Whet or White Face win again, or are we going to see a new champ crowned? Whatever your thoughts, let's hear them!

59 comments

This channel is what I actually give thanks for this weekend!
- Well I appreciate that. I hope I can continue to live up to the standard that's been set!

Looks good! I think Sooty v Great Horned should be interesting.
And also, Go Screechies!
- Sooty vs GHO is the opener that's gonna break my heart either way. That immediately caught my eye and got a nooooooooo 😭 out of me.
  Screech has a fighting chance, and I wouldn't be shocked to see Screech vs the champ Saw Whet.

I rally behind the fish owls, let's go!!!
- You've got 3 of the 4 of them, so the odds work in your favor!

As always i am on Team Saw Whet. Go team!
- So little, so angry, such a cute owl...

COME ON GREAT HORNED OWL WOOOOOOO
- GHO is a timeless beauty. It's what my mind defaults to when I hear the word owl. What a combo of beauty and power!
  
  I saw TWO of them two nights ago! Hooting that amazing call to each other. Almsot cried.

Barn and Spectacled should win their first matchups easily, but I don’t know who-who will win that matchup to advance past the Sweet Sixteen 😰
- Mottled did well in the qualifier and BnW was no slouch last season itself.
  For myself, I've been a huge Barnie fan this year, and Speccy has done great in the regular postings recently, but one's gotta keep in mind they share this section of the bracket with Snowy. The Snowy fans have to be feeling overdue by now!

If Saw Whet doesn't win, the whole thing is rigged
- Saw Whet is as popular as ever! It's been an amazing champion.

Go, Burrowing! Boreal is going to be a tough opening match, but I have a good feeling we'll start strong and go deep in the bracket. Look out; we're coming in hot!
- That face is just too cute 🥰

Rooting for the Eurasian Eagle owl, as usual !
- Big, bad, yet beautiful! One of my favs.

Let's fucking Go Ruru!
Morepork for those outside NZ. I was surprised to see it on the list tbh
- Ruru actually finished 5th overall last year and I'm pretty sure did ok in 2023 as well. It's an adorable little owl with a fun name and has a built in international fan base thanks to the Discworld series of novels.
  I try to make sure to cover the world of owls as evenly as possible, so there's no forgetting NZs unique (but no longer only) owl.
  
  Oh that's cool. I'm glad to see the Ruru getting some love.
  I haven't read Discworld, but I know a few people that have that enjoyed it, so maybe I should get around to it some time. There's just so many its a bit intimidating!

Well, it's no surprise GHO is up against a lower-seeded team, the Sootys, because they want to ease into the season and roll up some of those OotY points when it starts to get real later in the bracket.
Personally, I think the Snowy / Barnie matchup later in the season is going to be wild but as they say, don't count your owls before they're updooted.
- I expect Snowy and Barn to win their openers, but a Specky vs Barnie, I couldn't confidently pick one over the other this early.
  GHO should probably take it over Sooty, but I'm a big Sooty fan, so either way I'm not gonna be in love with the outcome.

Woot! Saw Whet in þe opposite bracket from WFS!
I'm calling þis year early for Spectacled.
- Speck would make a great spokes owl for us. It has great potential!
  Saw Whet and White Face have are going to have a fun run. I think both are going to go far again.
  
  Is it kosher to change þe community avatar regularly? I know a donation goes in þe name of þe winner, but I just realized I don't know if you change it to þe winner each year.
  Do you have a way for us to contribute to þe OOTY winnner donation? We have a raptor rescue here run by þe University, but þey seem to focus mostly on ... not-owls. Hawks and eagles, mostly, it seems.

In my heart, the winner is the Milky Eagle.
But, as usual, I will be voting for all of them.
- I really love the positivity the Milky gets here. It was yet unusual to me, and the name wasn't the most appealing, but it's a very unique and powerful owl and seems pretty cool overall. I want to meet one and have it wink its pink eyelids at me 😁

Got my bracket all filled out! Let’s hope I can get at least one guess right.
- I get a ton wrong and do occasionally wonder what the heck you all are thinking picking some over others 😊
  Do you dare say who your pick for the winner is?
  
  I’m not off to a very good start :(

59 comments