this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Superbowl

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For owls that are superb.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

This looks to be an Eurasian Eagle Owl, based on the orange eyes and the chest coloration. They have a very similar silhouette to the Great Horned Owl.

Both are some of my favorites. I find them very regal looking.

They're both of the genus Bubo, which contains many of the biggest owls. Bubo is Latin for "horned owl."

There are 10 owls currently considered Bubos, and oddly the Snowy Owl is now classified as a Bubo despite not having plumicorns.

Snowies used to be the sole member of genus Nyctea, but DNA testing had shown them to be very closely related to the Bubos. Some scientists debate the change, so it's kinda the owl version of the people that are upset Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore.

Thanks for the nice picture! I'm excited to see a few people posting now. We're close to 1500 subs, so I'm hoping we're getting closer to enough where activity starts to increase.

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