FOWL HYSTERIA 2025: ROUND 3
ONLY EIGHT BIRDS REMAIN.
OK, now this is getting REAL.
Just eight birds remain in the 2025 edition of the world’s greatest (and only???) bird-based bracket tournament. There’s no messing around anymore. All the remaining contenders have shown grit, power, and determination, and they are ready to ROLL. The stakes keep getting higher. The contests keep getting tougher! The birds keep getting bird-ier!!!!
Let’s just get right to it, shall we?
Remember: ONLY YOUR VOTES determine which birds make it to Round 4. And you have one week to vote! So get your people to the polls! And LET’S DO THIS.
Common Loon vs. Narrow-Billed Tody
The loon and the tody both dispatched their rivals with ease. Who knew a killer falcon and a large beautiful monal could be felled so quickly? Now they face their biggest rival: each other.
Steller’s Jay vs. Great Blue Heron
Farewell, adorable choco toucan. Farewell, gay chinstrap penguins. You fought a good fight, but it wasn’t enough. Now two brilliantly blue behemoths meet each other for the first time. These birds are so good—and you’re going to send one of them home.
American Kestrel vs. Kākāpō
This is perhaps the powerhouse fight of this round. The kestrel and the kākāpō each walloped their round 2 competitors (sorry, green-barred woodpecker and gray-crowned crane, your journey ends here) by almost identically vast margins. But now only one of them can go forward. FOWL HYSTERIA!
Bushtit vs. Emperor Penguin
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST. The tiny poofy bushtit, which had the biggest win of round 2, meets the big kind of poofy emperor penguin, which is an emperor penguin. WHO YA GOT?
OK, those are the matchups. Here’s the bracket.
Now OVER TO YOU.
See you next week. VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE. WE LOVE VOTING.
A reminder: you can check out our complete Bird of the Week list here, and get in touch with your bird suggestions at hello@discourseblog.com.
The ball of angry fluff that is the Bushtit has my vote. People don't realize how dangerous small balls of fluff that are burds really are.
As a person who has kestrels visiting me on my window sills en masse every year, I can confidently say they are complete vindictive assholes. The kākāpō deserves to win this one.