“Gorilla crow” will haunt your nightmares – and your daymares
Crows are amazing birds; not only can they use twigs as tools, they will combine twigs to make longer or better tools, which a is a little scary when you think about it. It’s not as scary as this terrifying vision, though.
therapist: you don't need to be afraid of gorilla crow. gorilla crow isn't real.
me, looking out the window: pic.twitter.com/5Yz8rkIikU
— llama (@LlamaInaTux) June 22, 2019
What is going on? @LlamaInaTux‘s frankly disturbing clip has been retweeted almost 11,000 times in two days, as people marvel – or recoil. Here are some of the many responses.
Where are the feet? Is it planking?
— Ben Erwin (@benterwin) June 22, 2019
Cats be like… pic.twitter.com/G21Kw7GTI0
— (@fredjfrancis) June 23, 2019
GORILLA CROW: *puts cigarette out on his own wrist* tonight. you.
— E (@Gazellionaire_) June 22, 2019
I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.
— Chaundra Sierra (@ChaundraSierra) June 23, 2019
Hahah I love the ominous, threatening energy this crow has
— Sabtastic (@Sabtastique) June 23, 2019
And our personal favourite …
Wing Kong https://t.co/K3TAJA85Qn
— Rob O' Sullivan (@Rob0Sullivan) June 23, 2019
To put us all out of our misery, corvid expert, Kaeli Swift, PhD, tweeted the explanation.
There’s a very strange (uncredited) video of crow making the rounds on reddit. Here’s the deal. First, this is a large-billed crow, which is why the face is looking a little out of proportion. pic.twitter.com/LUYuMimvAp
— Kaeli Swift, PhD (@corvidresearch) June 22, 2019
Second, this bird is not missing its legs and propping itself up with its wings, that would be physically impossible. Also, not that it’s relevant to the answer, but a crow without legs couldn’t fly, because it couldn’t generate any lift. So legless crow is a dead crow.
— Kaeli Swift, PhD (@corvidresearch) June 22, 2019
What it’s actually doing is sunning itself. When birds sun they drop their wings and cock their tails. At the right angle that could obscure the legs and tail making it look like they’re missing.
— Kaeli Swift, PhD (@corvidresearch) June 22, 2019
So there you have it – not gorilla crow, but bronzing crow.