It was the subject of countless jokes and puns, and its popularity only grew. The Shoebill Stork had become an internet celebrity. People began to dress up as the Shoebill Stork for Halloween and cosplay events. It was featured in memes, cartoons, and even video games. People were fascinated by its strange appearance and began to share the photos with their friends. It started with a few photos of the bird that were posted online. The Shoebill Stork suddenly became an internet sensation. But then, in the early 2000s, something changed. It was rarely seen and even more rarely photographed. It was called the Shoebill Stork, and it had a long, curved beak that resembled a shoe.įor centuries, the Shoebill Stork was a mystery to the world. Once upon a time, there was a strange and mysterious bird that lived in the swamps of Africa. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.The Rise of the Shoebill Stork Meme: How It Became an Internet Sensation You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. AFP Fact Check, March 18, Pelicans do not cool down by pushing spines out of mouths.IFL Science, May 29, 2020, No, Pelicans Don't Shove Their Spine Through Their Mouths to Cool Down.Pelicans cool off through a process called gular fluttering, where they keep their beaks open while fluttering the pouch beneath with each breath. The birds depicted in the meme are yawning, not sticking out their spines. Our rating: Falseīased on our research, we rate FALSE the claim pelicans stick out their spines through their throats to cool down. The way pelicans cool off, Naish and Stiteler said, is by holding the beak open while fluttering the gular pouch with each breath, somewhat similar to how dogs pant – but more efficiently and without loss of body fluids.
Shoebill meme skin#
"Glottis exposure is to do with getting the gular pouch skin back into normal place, and apparently also with hygiene and self-cleaning." "It's a well-known bit of behavior and there's no indication that it's anything to do with overheating," he told USA TODAY via Twitter. The bulge seen during these big, leisurely yawns, is called glottis exposure. It involves the birds inverting the pouches beneath their long beaks over their necks and chest, said paleontologist Darren Naish.įact check: 'Stuckie the Mummified Dog' is real, on display at Georgia museum Pelicans, being large and without many predators, can afford to be more leisurely in their yawning, compared to a smaller bird with many predators. How big, or often, they yawn can depend on how vulnerable a bird is to predators. "In those photos, those birds are actually yawning," she told USA TODAY. The birds depicted in the meme are not all pelicans – one is a shoebill, similar to pelicans – and they're not cooling down either, said Sharon Stiteler, a National Park ranger and bird expert. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook and Instagram users for comment. The post and similar ones shared to Facebook and Instagram have gained over 70,000 likes, shares and comments in recent months, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool.īirds do sweat in their own way, but it doesn't involve any sort of spinal rearrangement, experts say. 29 Facebook post.īelow the meme's text is a grid with three pictures of birds with a bulge in their large beaks, then a fourth image that seems to anatomically explain how the process works.įact check: Ice cubes are safe for dogs, contrary to alarmist social media claims "Today I learned that when pelicans are hot, they can take their spine out of their mouths to cool down," reads a meme shared in an Aug. For birds like pelicans, cooling down involves a rather disturbing contortion, a meme claims. We can keep our bodies cool with a physical air conditioner or switch on an internal one – human sweat.īut for some of our furry and feathered friends, cooling down by expressing water through the skin and allowing it to evaporate isn't at all possible. Watch Video: Pod of pelicans gathers at sunset The claim: Pelicans stick out their spines through their throats to cool downīeating the summer heat is not a big deal for humans.
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