Red Side has compared the speeds of aircraft, spaceships, and other vehicles; now they’re back to show the differences in flying speeds of birds – or, in the case of penguins, chickens, and kiwis, how fast they can walk or run. Who here knew a seagull was faster than Usain Bolt?
Inspired by how hummingbirds hover in flight, Works by Design wanted to see if he could build a flying machine that lifts off vertically and stays aloft by flapping its wings. It uses compressed gas for propulsion and a custom-built air motor to move its wings. It’s not an efficient method of flight, but it was cool to observe the engineering process.
Most of us rely on our phones or watches to tell us the time. But there’s something just so magical about using letting a mechanical bird announce the time instead. Clock Shop posted this video of a roomful of cuckoo clocks sounding off in sequence. We like to imagine they’re all saying “Here!” like an avian roll call.
This unique metal bird feeder offers a wonderful spot to observe birds, squirrels, and other wildlife as they enjoy a little fruit. It features a perch behind the house and a sharp point that can be hammered into a tree trunk for stability. Each is made in the USA from 1/8″ Corten steel, which will weather to a rich patina over the years.
Whether you’re a cat that likes to watch birds or a human that likes to watch videos, this clever bird feeder from Fred has got you covered. It attaches to the outside of your window and provides a live stream of birds wrapped in a frame that looks like the controls for a YouTube video. There should be a “Skip Squirrel” button.
Multimedia artist Kelly Heaton makes these unique synthesizer circuits in the shape of birds. Not only do they look like our fine feathered friends, but the sounds they make are reminiscent of birdsong. Check out Kelly’s Instagram for more of her wonderful electronic projects.
While keeping an eye out on a neighborhood tree, a birdwatcher witnesses one bird murdering another. After realizing what he has seen, the bird tries to protect its secret. Charlie Hankin wrote, directed, and animated this darkly comic short film that sort of combines Hitchcock’s Rear Window and The Birds.
Musician and streamer Drew on the Kit likes to take viral videos and improvise drum beats to them. We’ve compiled a few of our favorite clips into a YouTube playlist, including cats, dogs, birds, and people doing their thing with a new rhythm section. You can catch his live stream performances on Twitch.
Artist Penny Thomson makes these amazing moving sculptures of birds, dragons, faeries, and other creatures. Each one uses a crank and precisely-placed stiff wires to bring it to life. Her works go up for sale on her Etsy shop from time to time, but they sell out almost instantly.
Author Matt Kracht follows up on his hilarious Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America with a guide for identifying stupid birds around the globe. The book is packed with colorful illustrations of the world’s birds, along with their annoying calls, stupid habits, and tacky markings.
While floating through the air on a paraglider, this man was joined by another air traveler – a big old vulture. The bird took a moment to rest its wings in mid-air, landing on the glider’s frame and checking out the pilot’s feet. Astute viewers will notice the leather band on the vulture’s leg, so it was probably trained to do this.
This experimental video from Donato Sansone aka milkyeyes answers two questions none of us ever asked: 1) What would a human look like if it had a bird for a head, and 2) What would a bird look like with a human face on its body? And the answer for both is the same: weird as hell.
Tom Scott took to the skies to fly with a gaggle of geese. Thanks to microlight pilot Christian of FlywithBirds, they became unofficial members of the flock and got close enough to touch them by flying at the same speed. Not only are the geese unafraid of his aircraft, they treat Christian as a member of their family.
Artist Blake McFarland has wowed us with his incredible animal sculptures. This time, he created a life-like sculpture of a bald eagle out of bicycle tire feathers wrapped around a metal frame and a foam body. The finished bird has an impressive 6-foot wingspan and an awesome beak and talons made from steel.
Get up close and personal with the birds that stop by your yard with the Birdbuddy. This modern bird feeder has a high-resolution camera that automatically captures photos and video of our fine feathered friends and alerts you to their visits on your smartphone. AI tech even identifies their species.
This set of three cotton dish towels adds a bit of color and nature to your kitchen. It’s just that these fine feathered friends have a bad attitude, and if you took a second to read what they’re saying, they’re over it. Sayings include “See You in Hell,” “Everything Popular is Wrong,” and “Hell Is Other People.”
Romanian origami artist Patrick Alberto Vraja shows off an awesome paper sculpture he created of a Blakiston fish owl, based on a design by Katsuta Kyohei. He folded the amazing bird entirely from two layered 150cm x 150cm sheets of tissue paper.
With state birds like Louisiana’s pelican, choosing a bird to represent your state seems like a decent idea. But Jam2Go’s video essay points out how many states completely missed the point, either picking inappropriate birds or duplicating other states. Along the way, he offers some suggestions on how to fix the problem.
Animation student Adnan Peer Mohamed wanted to make something that would make his audience giggle. We think he succeeded with this short film about a goofy-looking seagull desperate for a snack. When it comes across a hot dog on the ground, things don’t turn out quite as expected.
Among the various residents of the San Diego Zoo are a number of delightfully pink flamingos. For fun, the zoo shared footage of the lanky birds as they poke their heads beneath the water in search of food. The flamingos have filtering plates in their mouths which sort out tasty morsels like tiny shrimp and other small critters.
Our fine feathered friends have several key abilities which make them competitive in the meta, including the power of flight and pointy beaks. But clearly, some birds are more likely to survive and thrive than others. TierZoo offers up their unique take on various avians and how well they may fare in the universe.
On the surface, Joseph Bennett’s animated short film is just two guys gabbing about nothing while birdwatching. But it turns into a deep existential discussion as the duo starts thinking about their place in the universe and their own mortality. Comedian Joe Pera did a fantastic job with the voice acting too.
In this footage from the 2009 BBC Earth special Superswarm, we get an up-close look at a mass of roughly 10 million starlings as they fly in formation over Rome, Italy. Of course, with millions of birds comes a whole lot of bird poop. We’d love to see a sequel recorded with modern 4k cameras.