Birds
Glynne Wood, the man with a pigeon on his head
October 1969: Glynne Wood gained fame in the UK when a pigeon landed on his head and refused to leave. Wood stoically accepted his fate and went about his daily activities with the pigeon perched there.Five days later, thanks to news coverage of the man-bird friendship, the pigeon's owners came forward and took the pigeon home.
Two hours, and four miles later, Mr. Glynne Wood was walking to his home in Flaxley Road, Stechford, when Charlie landed on his head and refused to budge. Mr. Wood tried to leave the bird outside his house but it insisted on coming in — on his head.
Then night-shift worker Mr. Miotia recognised newspaper pictures of the bird — and Mr. Wood's problem was solved.
Birmingham Evening Mail - Oct 25, 1969
Birmingham Evening Mail - Oct 29, 1969
Birmingham Evening Mail - Nov 11, 1970
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 02, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Birds, 1960s
Percy the Pigeon-Eating Pelican
Sault Star - May 20, 1989
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 01, 2025 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Birds, 1980s
Walking 53 miles dressed as a curlew
Matt Trevelyan, a farming officer for Nidderdale National Landscape, began the two-day challenge on Saturday and has been walking along the Nidderdale Way.
He crafted the 10ft-long (3m) costume of a Eurasian curlew - Europe's largest wading bird - out of polystyrene and bamboo.
More info: BBC.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 24, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Birds, Costumes and Masks, World Records, Fur, Hides, Pelts, Scales, Feathers and Other Bodily Coverings
Heidi Fleiss Macaw Sanctuary
Recently, after spending a day taking in the sights at Death Valley National Park, my wife and I spent a night in Pahrump, Nevada... Pahrump being the closest place where we could find reasonably priced accommodation. While there, I was looking at Google Maps, trying to find somewhere to eat dinner, when I noticed that our rental was only a few blocks away from the Heidi Fleiss Macaw Sanctuary.I wondered if that was the same Heidi Fleiss who gained fame/infamy in the 1990s as the "Hollywood Madam." Some googling revealed that it was. Fleiss now describes herself as "a retired Hollywood Madam turned active Macaw patroness."
image source: google maps
Google maps showed opening hours for the macaw sanctuary, which led me to believe that it must be open to the public. So the next morning we drove over to check it out.
Turns out it's definitely not open to the public. As you drive up you're greeted by several very large "KEEP OUT" signs, so we turned around and drove away. Though we were able to see a macaw on the property, sitting on top of a trellis.
I'm guessing that Fleiss must initially have intended to make her macaw sanctuary open to the public, but after several of her macaws were shot, she's decided to keep it private.
More info: wikipedia, Daily Mail ("an intimate glimpse inside her remote $1 MILLION 'bird house' in the Nevada desert")
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 08, 2025 -
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Category: Animals, Birds, Celebrities
Bird Meets Train
I once had a flying bug arrow directly into my ear, as if fired from a gun, so I can sympathize. It took a doctor to remove the thing.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 04, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Animals, Birds, 1900s, Trains
Arrow Storks
Arrow storks (in German Pfeilstörche) are storks that got arrows stuck in their body while wintering in Africa but nevertheless managed to fly back to their summer habitats in Europe. To date, around twenty-five Pfeilstörche have been documented.From wikipedia:
Image & text: Overlooked Sights. German Places. By Michaela Vieser and Reto Wettach.
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 20, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Birds, Science
Funeral March on the Death of a Parrot
Read about the eccentric, parrot-loving composer Charles-Valentin Alkan (and his equally eccentric son) here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 08, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Birds, Eccentrics, Music, Europe, Nineteenth Century
The Highwaymen, “The Bird Man”
For our category of Actors Who Unwisely Attempt "Singing"
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 30, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Birds, Crime, Movies, Music, 1960s
Pigeon Drones
Read all about the wartime practice of mounting cameras on pigeons.At Wikipedia.
And at Public Domain Review, where there are more pictures.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 17, 2024 -
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Category: Animals, Birds, Inventions, Photography and Photographers, War, Twentieth Century
Aleck the deluded gander
Details from Life magazine (May 18, 1953):
I haven't been able to find any info about what became of Aleck after the Life article made him famous. How long did he live? According to google, geese in captivity can sometimes live for as long as 40 years. So Aleck might have been standing guard by that oil drum for many years.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 05, 2023 -
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Category: Animals, Birds, Husbands, Marriage, 1950s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |