SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Clint Screechwood has been announced the winner of the Superb Owl contest, awarding the Forest Park Zoo a $5,000 cash prize.

Screechwood obtained more than 60% of the votes during the final round of the Superb Owl contest. Tens of thousands of votes were accumulated throughout the contest this year. In addition to the zoo receiving a $5,000 reward, one person that voted for Screechwood will also receive $1,000.

“We always knew Clint Screechwood was special,’” said Sarah Tsitso, Executive Director of The Zoo in Forest Park & Education Center. “Now, the rest of the world knows it, too.”

Clint Screechwood is one of three eastern screech owls at The Zoo in Forest Park that arrived during the winter of 2020. He and his two companions, Hooma Thurman and Jean-Clawed Van Damme, all have vision impairments that prevent them from living in the wild.

The Zoo in Forest Park works with wildlife rehabilitators from across the country to provide permanent homes to animals that can not survive in the wild on their own due to injuries, illness or permanent disabilities.

The runner up owl, Sanford from Florida’s Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey, was also awarded a $1,000 prize.