Then, the humble brown bird became the butt of a cruel joke by those who discovered it, as both its common and scientific nomenclatures are thinly-veiled insults in English, Greek and Latin.
While the former is self-explanatory, the latter implies it looks like an owl and walks like a gout-ridden man, due its tiny, talon-less feet. So, how did this Australian and South East native, labelled the World’s Most Unfortunate Looking Bird in 2004, surpass its ugly reputation and attractive brethren?
In the study by German researchers, analysing 30,000 photos and ‘likes’ garnered by each, the frogmouth soared above iridescent and exotic birds like the African green turaco by making up for what it lacked in beauty through its “interestingness, idiosyncrasy, and… situational context”.
In short, thanks to its baffling yet anthropomorphic looks, and perpetually pissed-off expression (due its front-facing eyes), the bird is comedic gold. Well, giggle at it all yo