This should be a tense battle for opening day! Representing New Zealand and Australia, we have 2 tough competitors!

The Morepork, aka Ruru, is the only native owl of New Zealand still around. This little cutie has spent over 200 years trying to not get categorized as just another Australian Boobook type owl. Morepork lives in hardwood forests where it hunts with a fairly unique hawk like agility to catch large invertebrates as well as birds.and mice. Like the Barking Owl, this owl is named after the sound it makes. The native Maori heard “Ruru” while the British heard a “more pork” phrase.

Australia’s Barking Owl is best known for its call reminiscent of a small dog’s bark. In a rarity for raptors, males are larger than females by about 10%. They live along the coasts in forested areas, and they have one of the broadest diets of any Australian owl, eating things from trees, the ground, the surface of water, or right out of the air.

Which famously vocal owl down under will get your vote today?

Vote for your favorite below by upvoting your choice. Winner is the owl with the most upvotes after 24(ish) hours. Feel free to vote for both, but no downvotes, as they will be thrown out. A neutral third party will break any ties. Cast your vote now, and feel free to cheer on your choice in the comments, but no bashing the other owl or your fellow community members. They are all superb!

#superbowl #owloftheyear2024

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      17 days ago

      The owls, being so remote at the time, failed to learn of the Great Vowel Shift, so they still use the old pronunciations.

      Both calls are great, and for owls that seem somewhat visually similar, highlights how things like different calls or behaviors can help differentiate between different species.

  • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
    4·
    17 days ago

    If you’re from AUS or NZ, let me know if you went for the home team or if you crossed over to the other side. This is one of the matches I’m most interested in.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
      2·
      17 days ago

      Standard-issue Stupid American here, but I went with The Honorable Morepork because I learned about them in the fantastic NZ show “My Life Is Murder”

      They’re both winners though, obviously.

      • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
        2·
        17 days ago

        A shout out from Lucy Lawless has to account for something!

        And Americans needn’t be considered any stupider than how they choose to act…same as anyone! 🤪

  • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
    3·
    17 days ago

    Got to go morepork.

    In my DND game, my tabaxi rogue Malinki has a morepork familiar named Owlvis.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      17 days ago

      Every time I post the Morepork, it guilts me that a year later after you guys got me to finally download a Discworld book, I have still yet to get to it. 😑

      • You@feddit.org
        2·
        17 days ago

        No worries. You’re busy with the important task of supplying us with our daily dose of owlishious content. The Patrician will understand.

        I found Hogfather on YT. It’s the ‘Christmas’-Version of Discworld.

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
          2·
          17 days ago

          Oooo, how convenient! I checked out the first few minutes so far. It was nice getting a quick representation of the world and city, and the Jack and the Beanstalk part was very funny. I’m going to try to watch it all today. Thank you so much!

          I also have the What an Owl Knows book I started a year ago. I got burnt out on it as every page had like 3 things I could make posts about, and then it started to feel like work. I took my copy of Soviet Space Dogs in to work to try to read that, and I’ve made some progress sits it sits here staring at me. I’ve gotten bad at finishing things! 😅

          • You@feddit.org
            2·
            17 days ago

            You’re welcome! I hope you like it. Watching a movie is easier than reading a whole book. Guilty of having a few books I need to finish (or better yet, start).

            • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
              2·
              16 days ago

              Got to finish it, and that was a truly awesome story! I don’t even particularly like Christmas stories, but this one really gave me me a nice feeling of holiday spirit.

              It reminded me of a mix of Nightmare Before Christmas and American Gods/Sandman. So many great jokes and gags as well. I think this is my go to Christmas movie now!

              • You@feddit.org
                2·
                16 days ago

                You’ve been busy! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😃

                I can see your points of reference. You might already know that Neil Gaiman and Pratchett knew each other and did a collab on ‘Good Omens’. They certainly shared a few concepts in their work. To me, Pratchett is the one who brings in more playfulness and humour to the story.

                And I got to check out the first episode of Black Books. That one hasn’t been on my radar. But how fitting that Bill Bailey’s in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCk-fh6SQO4

                • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
                  2·
                  16 days ago

                  It makes perfect sense now if they’ve worked together. The movie had a much more fun humor to it than the stuff of Gaiman’s that I’m familiar with that has more of a Tim Burton odd/quirky humor.

                  I only learned if Black Books from another post about Bailey rescuing an owl. I had never heard of him before that, and some people there said I must see it, and they weren’t wrong!

            • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
              2·
              17 days ago

              I didn’t get as far as I wanted, but I’m enjoying it so far. Got up to the tooth fairy.

              All the accents have also reminded me I have 1 season left of Black Books also!