A brightly colored exotic-looking bird had everyone fooled into thinking a new species has been discovered after it was found wandering around a motorway in the UK.
The orange coated, phoenix-looking bird was immediately spotted by curious onlookers who reported the case to the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.
As the rescuers figured out after a close inspection, however, the bird was actually just a seagull that apparently had a brawl with a bag of curry.
“This is one of the strangest casualty circumstances we have seen in a while! When they called to say they had picked up an orange bird, we had no idea what to expect – and would never have guessed at this!” the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital explained in their Facebook post.
“He had somehow gotten himself covered in curry or turmeric! It was all over his feathers, preventing him from flying properly. We have no idea how he got into this predicament but thankfully, apart from the vibrant color and pungent smell, he was healthy.
“He is now looking much better and should be able to go for release very soon! As we say, we never know what will come through our doors next!”
Much to the amusement of internet users, the curry-coated seagull had everyone fooled with its disguise. Following the bird’s treatment, the seagull was sent on its way.
While the incident may sound unique, a similar thing happened to another seagull in Wales just three years ago. At that time, the bird fell into a container of chicken tikka masala.
“He really surprised everyone here – we had never seen anything like it before. He had fallen into a waste vat of curry that was outside, it was chicken tikka masala. The thing that shocked us the most was the smell. He smelled amazing, he really smelled good,” nurse Lucy Kells said according to the Guardian.
“He cleaned up surprisingly well at the hospital, we used washing-up liquid a few times.”
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