UM-Bot Posted February 13, 2015 #1 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Legends of a huge bird have been an integral part of American Midwest culture for centuries. Myths and tales of a massive eagle-like bird in North America have persisted not just in the centuries old stories of Native American tribes but in far more recent accounts as well. Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/278040/could-the-thunderbird-be-a-real-creature 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podo Posted February 13, 2015 #2 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Thunderbirds being real seems highly unlikely. At best, I could see some kind of ancient species of giant eagle that lived thousands of years ago that we don't have any fossil records of, whose stories have survived into the modern times. But even that would be quite a stretch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis914 Posted February 13, 2015 #3 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Now if we could just find that darn picture, it would all be settled... the missing thunderbird picture has become as big of a mystery as the monster itself... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bubblykiss Posted February 13, 2015 Popular Post #4 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I found a picture of this mythic beast. I believe it fed mostly on petroleum distillate. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Cooper Merrin Posted February 13, 2015 #5 Share Posted February 13, 2015 (Note to administration) Why wasn't the title "Thunderbirds are go" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted February 13, 2015 #6 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Quite likely western tribes had contact with Pacific coast tribes who told them of the California Condor, and as tales do, the bird got larger and fiercer with each retelling by those who had not actually seen the Condor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hammerclaw Posted February 13, 2015 #7 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Why not? If people are going to believe in giant monkeymen roaming the woods, what's a big buzzard or two? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-C Posted February 13, 2015 #8 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I hope so. Now I can worry about being carried off and my innards pecked out while I'm still alive. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hammerclaw Posted February 13, 2015 #9 Share Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) I hope so. Now I can worry about being carried off and my innards pecked out while I'm still alive. Or you fight your way free of the nest you are dropped in, only to be assaulted on the ground by giant monkeymen. Edited February 13, 2015 by Hammerclaw 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harte Posted February 13, 2015 #10 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Look on the bright side. Imagine the omelets. Harte 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-C Posted February 13, 2015 #11 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Or you fight your way free of the nest you are dropped in, only to be assaulted on the ground by giant monkeymen. Just keeps gettin' better! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawken Posted February 13, 2015 #12 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I don't recall 2 birds in the Lawndale, Illinois sighting. Just one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PersonFromPorlock Posted February 14, 2015 #13 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Pelagornis sandersi and argentavis magnificens both had wingspans in excess of twenty feet. Both are pre-human era but show that a Thunderbird-like creature is physically possible. We can suppose a large bird that went extinct in paleo-indian times along with the rest of the megafauna, leaving only a legend behind, but there's no fossil evidence for it. The story about the boys sounds like a hoax. If birds the size of Cessnas were still flying around, they'd be pretty noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabby Kitten Posted February 14, 2015 #14 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Living pterodactyl type creatures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvir Posted February 14, 2015 #15 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thunderbird real? I get that's good eating... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nnicolette Posted February 14, 2015 #16 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I myself own a trans am has a nice white Thunderbird on the front... Its easily possible a known species could grow big enough to carry off a small child or be misidentified. When I was about five a big great blue heron flew over my house and my dad has us convinced that it was a pteradactle. We all know that's nonsense but maybe not to someone that can't identify species. I saw a bald eagle eating a deer once it was so big I thought it was a statue until I got closer because it was 4 ft tall. Now a bald eagle is easily recognizable but I would agree that a condor is a likely suspect and matches the size qualifications. Its a shame they couldn't be more descriptive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nnicolette Posted February 14, 2015 #17 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Relying on fossil record is also a stretch and not %100 reliable either don't you admit? I mean what are the odds of a recent and excedingly rare bird becoming fossilized and found by paleontologists does anyone know the figures on that? Not solid proof of anything especially if there were candidates 100,000 years ago that is not unheard of for species to dwindle seem extinct and resurface in that amount of time. Or like my first post more likely be misidentified. Not long ago there was a problem with a large hawk picking off the neighborhood cats around here. I find it plausible that a larger species made a pass at a small child. Doesn't make it a Thunderbird tho I think its a bit of a stretch when no identifyable markings are included or description of the bird past its size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefenceMinisterMishkin Posted February 14, 2015 #18 Share Posted February 14, 2015 It could be an evolved Megalodon. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorvir Posted February 14, 2015 #19 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thunderbird real? I get that's good eating... "Get"? I meant guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted February 14, 2015 #20 Share Posted February 14, 2015 The Haast's eagle (Harpagornis moorei) is an extinct species of eagle that once lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the Pouakai of Maori legend.[1] The species was the largest eagle known to have existed. Its primary prey was suspected to consist of moa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast%27s_eagle There have been large predatory birds that have coexisted with humans, the Haast's eagle being an example. I'm not saying the boys in the article saw anything other than a modern raptor however there have been large birds that could have been responsible for the thunderbird myth. And we all know how people like to exaggerate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hammerclaw Posted February 14, 2015 #21 Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) I myself own a trans am has a nice white Thunderbird on the front... Its easily possible a known species could grow big enough to carry off a small child or be misidentified. When I was about five a big great blue heron flew over my house and my dad has us convinced that it was a pteradactle. We all know that's nonsense but maybe not to someone that can't identify species. I saw a bald eagle eating a deer once it was so big I thought it was a statue until I got closer because it was 4 ft tall. Now a bald eagle is easily recognizable but I would agree that a condor is a likely suspect and matches the size qualifications. Its a shame they couldn't be more descriptive. Juvenile Bald Eagles might not be so easily identified. Edited February 14, 2015 by Hammerclaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nnicolette Posted February 15, 2015 #22 Share Posted February 15, 2015 But would a juvenile reach the size described? Exaggeration wouldnt be a shocker either the mechanics of a bird that size getting off the ground are a bit strained I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hammerclaw Posted February 15, 2015 #23 Share Posted February 15, 2015 But would a juvenile reach the size described? Exaggeration wouldnt be a shocker either the mechanics of a bird that size getting off the ground are a bit strained I think. I've seen juveniles flying with the parents along the river downtown. Same size as the adults or close to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nnicolette Posted February 15, 2015 #24 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Any guesses on how big they were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skookum Posted February 15, 2015 #25 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Giantism does happen throughout the animal kingdom although rare. You get huge people, huge dogs, huge rabbits etc etc. Could the sightings actually have been real and they were just well known species in the area that were unusually large? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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