Snowy owl vs. Yellow warbler.
Image via Wikipedia
I have no real-world experience with either of these birds, so rather than argue for one over the other to snatch a perch in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “March Migration Madness” Airborne 8 bracket as I have for previous contenders — fairly persuasively, if I do say so myself, and I do, totally alone on that — I think I’ll use a lifeline.
HELP!! I can’t choose.
(I really think the snowy owl should have gone up against the bald eagle; might have been a fairer fight, two raptors, white heads, golden eye orbs and all …)
OK, FOCUS. Don’t forget this isn’t just a popularity contest, be scientific, there are scientists behind it, ya know.
We’ll compare in list form.
Both the snowy owl and yellow warbler have their pluses and pluses.
The Snowy Owl
1. Served as a pivotal plot device last year in “The Big Year,” a movie just out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy … and sorely snubbed by the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, SAGs, Critics’ Choice, Rotten Tomatoes, MTV, Rondo Awards, etc., etc. In 1998, the snowy owl was the one bird eluding champion birder Sandy Komito, represented as Kenneth Bostick in the flick, played by Owen Wilson. The quest canned his marriage. If he’d just waited about 15 more big years, global warming would have made spotting a snowy owl much easier.
Wol.
2. Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, one of the best characters was indubitably Owl. What kind of owl was he? A brilliant one. Could spell his name: Wol. I loved his squiggles, and his throat-clearing.
3. The whole Harry Potter thing. Honestly, though, the U.S. Postal Service might take note.
4. They are possessed by the devil and their heads spin around.
5. Before my aunt Susie was into eagles (see previous post, “Stateliness vs. Subterfuge: A slam-dunk”), owls floated her boat. She collected anything and everything owl-inspired, and for each holiday gift, uninspired relatives fed her addiction. Note to self: Don’t ever tell people what your favorite species is. Susie had owl hand towels, owl corkscrews, owl running mats, even owl sunglasses. This was before those hoarding shows became popular.
The Yellow Warbler
1. It is yellow.
2. It warbles.
SEE? Feels like a sequel, Hedwig and the Angry Finch, Oh, I know it’s not a finch.
It’s clear I need help. Someone, please, buy my vote.
Yellow Warbler (Photo credit: A. Davey)
Related articles
- Battle between a snowy owl and a peregrine falcon – in Chicago! (whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com)
- Not your average flock of birds (mommytongue.com)
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