Yet again, despite my best efforts, I’ve been sucked into the insatiable vortex of popular culture. Then again, how long could I resist an addiction that encompasses three of my favorite things, namely birds, video games, and my Droid? Perhaps you’ve heard of this game Angry Birds…
The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortified castles.
Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and lots of replay value. Each of the 120 levels requires logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy.
Protect wildlife or play Angry Birds!
Of course, hurling digital birds with digital slingshots at digital green pigs in elaborate, yet impractical structures is a waste of time. A far better use of our time and effort would be to identify these irascible avians.
The 10,000 Birds community possesses the perfect skill set to accomplish the apparently impossible task of identifying which real bird species each Angry Bird resembles most closely. Not only do we wield a collective mastery of world avifauna, but we are clearly willing to waste time online! So grab your guides and rally your friends from far-flung corners of the globe. Together, we can identify the Angry Birds!!
I’ll start with some notes, then add identifications as they come in.
RED ANGRY BIRD – That color and crest clearly call to mind Northern Cardinal, but who shaved its belly?
BLUE ANGRY BIRD – This tiny guy makes me think of a finch. I predict it’s an Old World species. Nick Sly’s suggestion of Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu looks very good.
YELLOW ANGRY BIRD – There’s something rather finchy about this bird, its triangular shape notwithstanding. Otherwise, consider Cream-colored Woodpecker.
WHITE ANGRY BIRD – While its egg shape conjures images of chickens, I’m going to go out on a limb and identify this bird as a cockatoo. No cockatoos I know have yellow bills or feet, but this angry bird compares well to any white cockatoo from Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) to Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea).
BLACK ANGRY BIRD – This bird is depicted as the largest of the ballistic bunch. Does anyone else get a guan vibe here? Other contenders are Sultan Tit or Crested Myna.
GREEN ANGRY BIRD – The newest member of the ferocious family could certainly pass for some sort of Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus), but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a better fit for a different bird from Asia or Africa.
What do you think? Can we identify all of these angry birds? (On a side note, are you any good at this game?!?)
Also, as evidence that great minds think alike, Birdchick is grappling with this same question.
My son has gotten me hooked on Angry Birds. It is a pleasant little diversion while waiting at the doctor’s office, or other times when you just have a few extra minutes. Would you say the little red bird is the same specie as the big red bird? The big red bird is certainly much stronger!
Cool post Corey. I wasted 50+ hours of my life but managed to beat the game last night. Highly addictive.
@Tom: Mike wrote it, but I will take the credit! 🙂
Why isn’t the Blue Angry bird an Indigo Bunting? Apart from that, I have no idea what you are writing about. Angry birds to me are crows mobbing a raptor.
@Mike: I’ll second your finch ID for the Yellow Bird. The black tail and “head” feathers instantly make me think American Goldfinch. Which I must admit, I have never seen an angry specimen of …
I think the little blue bird is a good match for Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu, although it clearly gets its flocking behavior from that other African species, the Quelea.
I always thought the yellow bird was a woodpecker, what with the way he drills into the opposition. You may think I’m crazy for suggesting a yellow woodpecker, but check out Cream-colored Woodpecker – the only thing they got wrong is giving it red eyebrows instead of red mustaches.
The big black bird does have a guan feel, but he must have collaborated with those other big black birds, ravens, as they are the only ones smart enough to develop explosive technology.
This is the kind of analysis I expected (except Tom above trying to steal credit from me!)
Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu looks very good for the blue bird. Check it out. Anyone have a photo I can use here?
Cream-colored Woodpecker (here) has a lot going for it, but I’m still thinking there must be a smaller songbird that matches it.
@ Mike: Hmmm, what about that mutant yellow Northern Cardinal?
Mike: if you’re looking for images that you can re-use, go to the google advanced image search page (http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search) and under “Usage Rights”, select “labeled for re-use”. That will return images that are licensed (generally) under a Creative Commons license.
The big black bird is clearly a Sultan Tit.
Beyond this, I too am a fan of this game.
We have not heard of or played this game, but the blue bird looks like one of those genetically modified Australian Budgerigars people keep in cages for fun?!
Black naped oriole fits the yellow bird fine!
the black bird could’ve been a yellow-billed chough, but what about the crest and the shaved belly?
The Black Bird, in my opinion, looks too much like some sort of a black quail. Where can we find an actual black quail? I tried Googling…
Hi Mike,
Here’s our take on different Angry Birds species:
http://angrybirdsaddiction.com/analysis/angry-birds-characters-species/
We hit the same bird with the Red Bird (Northern Cardinal), while the others were different.
Pat
The creators of Angry Birds have gave out what each bird is suppose to be:
Red Angry Bird: A Northern Cardinal
Blue Angry Bird: An Eastern Bluebird
Yellow Angry Bird: A Canary
Black Angry Bird: Some sort of Loon
White Angry Bird: A Chicken
Boomerang (Green) Angry Bird: A Toucan
There are also two other birds not stated above:
Big Brother Bird: A Hawk
Mighty Eagle: A Bald Eagle (duh)
The Angry Birds have released a new bird for Halloween, an Orange Bird (that inflates) and the Angry Birds Wikia site calls it a Baltimore Oriole.
The red bird i s a cardinal
but ´´the blue bird is a Western Bluebird“
´´The Yellow bird is a Canaray, The black bird is a Yellow billed Loon“
´´The white bird is a Chiken“ The grren bird is a Toucan
Saw this nice picture showing each of the angry birds beside it’s real life counterpart…
Real angry birds
The? Orange bird its a Frigatebird?? 😉
The yellow bird was confirmed a canary and the white bird a chicken.