Don’t give a hoot about sports? The Superb Owl might be for you

For people who don’t give a hoot about sports, there’s more than just football to celebrate this weekend.

Say hello to the Superb Owl.

The anagrammatic play on Super Bowl began as an accidental misspelling, or an internet meme, or who knows what. But it has since become a soaring cultural phenomenon, producing countless online posts and spawning a resurgence of interest in the nocturnal, wide-eyed raptors.

A subreddit called r/Superbowl, which serves as an online gathering place for “owl lovers everywhere,” has more than 440,000 members. In New Orleans, where the Super Bowl is being held this year, the theme for the annual science-fiction Mardi Gras parade Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus was “Rise of the Superb Owl.” With mentions in TV shows from Jeopardy! to What We Do in the Shadows, it is clear that the superb owl has landed.

“When people started using the superb owl hashtag or meme, people started looking for what’s going on with the owls,” said Tate Mason, director of the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. “So, all of the sudden, we have a new platform to talk about it.”

Mason said the popularity of the meme has helped drive people hoping to learn more about the birds to conservation organizations like his, so much so that the center is now hosting events such as this weekend’s Superb Owl Saturday. The event isn’t being held on Sunday to avoid ruffling the feathers of any owl-loving football fans, including Mason himself.

Still, if you think American football is popular, consider birding. More than 96 million people watched birds near their home and on trips in 2022, according to a report from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“The Super Bowl has been around since 1967,” Mason said. “Owls have been on planet Earth for over 52 million years.”

Mason said people are attracted to owls for their large, forward-facing eyes and their sit-and-wait approach to ambushing prey, which is part of what gives them a reputation for being wise.

The rising interest in owls has also given conservationists like Mason a chance to note the dangers facing the animals. There are 19 species of owls in the U.S., and many birds are under threat of habitat loss and risk ingesting rodenticides — or “rat poison” — when they eat small animals.

Though it’s light-hearted, Superb Owl Sunday has also become a way for people to earnestly engage with the birds of prey. As NPR previously noted, it is “sacred day, a chance to appreciate the majestic creature by posting owl pics on social media en masse.”

So however you engage with birds this Sunday — whether that’s watching a family of long-eared owls in a nest in Montana or the Eagles on the field in New Orleans — might just depend on where you place the ‘b.’