Mastodawn

OPEN - OotY Round 12 - Crested vs Ashy Faced

There has been some difficulty getting this owl classified. It was originally a subspecies of Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba), then it became a monotypic species, and in 2023, 2 subspecies of American Barn Owl got reclassified as subspecies of the Ashy Faced Owl.

I love that we’re still figuring stuff out. The classification of “famous” animals like owls feels like something that humans figured out long ago, but scientists are still discovering new connections to refine and correct existing models. That’s freaking awesome!

This is also a tough vote between two beautiful owls. I’ll keep my vote a secret, but both of them are great candidates.

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anon6789 Dec 6

That’s been one of my biggest surprises about owls as well-that they’ve fascinated us since ancient times, but we really know so little about many of them.

Most only do stuff at night, they tend to avoid people, and they live high up in trees, and can fly away from us before we even see them… if we can even see them with that crazy camo!

Modern genetic testing, satellite photos, drones, GPS, and more modern tech is letting us study them to a level of detail that was never possible and to go places that weren’t safe or feasible for people to go for long periods to study them.

It’s a great time to live owls!

I’ve stunningly lived the underdog , errr, under owl, in just about every dang match so far, and this one looks to be no exception so far! 😟

Good thing I always get to post what I like anyway!