How to confuse a puffin

[@korg47237]

We demand to see the photograph that was sent alongside this story!!

[@MartheenCahyaPaulo]

Google for "Penguin-like puffins resurface on Maine isles" and you'll get an NBC article with the leading pic of exactly that

[@tonypang83]

@@MartheenCahyaPaulo Thanks for that!

[@ToppyTree]

There's an NBC story under the headline "Penguin-like puffins resurface on Maine isles" which has a photo

[@Zack_Wester]

@@ToppyTree this one? media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-1240w,f_auto,q_auto:best/ap/merb10108262035.jpg because the picture in itself is almost a meme I think or at least was used as a reaction meme or something.

[@AltonV]

@@ToppyTree that was a cute photo

[@seanboyd2898]

My understanding is that it wasn't puffins being unsure of themselves, but that they are social enough to essentially not want they decoy to be self conscious.

[@lucbloom]

Asian puffins, they prevent shame by mimicking the established population’s folly.

[@Anolaana]

I'm not quite sure what you meant after "essentially" :S

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

The puffins thought "Hey, they do it and survive here, so we do it too and survive too." And now you have short-term evolution of puffins standing on one leg.

[@RunstarHomer]

I'm pretty sure nobody knows what a bird is thinking lol. At best either idea is a rough guess.

[@GoErikTheRed]

This reminds me of that time that researchers had to stop tagging birds with ankle bracelets because those with bracelets were seen as better mates by the other birds

[@Cillana]

I think that was specifically colored bands. I haven't heard of that happening with silver colored metal bands.

[@Chaotic_Pixie]

There's a few species of birds that the males line their nests with colorful bits of random stuff (usually feathers, but they'll use bottle caps, yarn bits, twist ties, whatever) but it must be colorful. The birds were getting into fights trying to steal the leg bands off other birds. The researchers had used different colored plastic bands because they're migratory birds & were using bird watching groups to just report in what color bands they saw where. It didn't work so well...

[@1e1001]

they got the drip

[@filegnaru]

Puffins are adorable. They kinda mimic what other creatures are doing as a way to socialize. So there's a lot of pictures/videos of them staring into the view finders of cameras when they join in with the photographers. "You do that thing? Ok, I do the thing too. We are friends now!" The pictures of them standing on one leg near the decoys are also adorable.

[@SlyPearTree]

Imitation is the sincerest form of puffinery

[@teamjay2837]

This story goes full circle. The flamingo lawn ornament was invented by Don Featherstone, a resident of Southwest Harbor, Maine. Every July there's a Flamingo Festival in the town, which is absolutely festooned with the plastic pink birds. It's incongruous seeing them among the rocky coast and pine trees and it's wonderful!

[@arcanics1971]

Kea ARE a large parrot. The Kakapo is sort of like an owl crossed with a parrot. If you're ever confused which you are facing, look for the whiskers. The Kakapo, as well as being completely flightless, has whiskers around its beak. The Kea can fly, but they spend a lot of time on the ground and nest in the roots of trees.

[@WhiskyOctober]

Kakapo also may attempt to mate with your head.

[@AliceHankin]

To be fair, Tom was right, since Kākā are another type of parrot too!

[@azathoth3700]

Also, Kea are startlingly intelligent and extremely curious/mischievous. While the Kakapo, with all the love in world, is a feathered rugby ball with a beak.

[@LordClarkson]

They're different shades of green too, with the kakapo being a brightish green, and the kea being a dark green, with orange feathers under the wing.

[@OlleLindestad]

Yeah, Tom got Kea confused with kaka, which is its sister species. Kea live in mountains and are green, kaka live in forests and are more brownish.

[@petertaylor4980]

Unlike toucans, puffins are surprisingly small. Until I saw them in real life I thought they were seagull-sized, but they're actually thrush-sized.

[@Omnilatent]

This is definitely one of my fav lateral questions ever. Adorable answer

[@milksheihk]

NZ has two largish parrots, Kakapo (world's fattest parrot) are the flightless ones with no predator response, the other large parrot is the Kea which can fly & does like to try to pull parts off cars.

[@Anolaana]

I love Emily's facial expressions and gestures! She's so enthusiastic, I'm nostalgic for the Brain Scoop again!

[@niklasbrandt7415]

You might want to have a look at the brainscoop youtube page. There will be a relaunch.

[@YouennF]

6:26 !

[@seabream]

I was happy to see that she's back on Brain Scoop a few days ago.

[@uplink-on-yt]

"Why are we standing on one leg, dude?" "I don't know. It's tradition. We're basically too afraid to change."

[@Deedumdee]

That's how religions get started!

[@Kumimono]

The puffins were only shown reruns of Miami Vice as rehabilitation. Nailed it!

[@olivier2553]

Why nail them? Are they dead?

[@HelmutNevermore]

7:00 "Yes, but you are so close." That's the phrase I'm going to use ever on.

[@ezafcrash3986]

I was just at the Auckland Zoo back in August so I remember Kea facts! First off, yes! They are parrots. They’re adapted for cold weather and they live in the southern alps in New Zealand which means they’re the only alpine parrot species in the world! Also, yes, they do get very bored and they steal windshield wipers and blowout car tires. Also, they have a habit of killing sheep when they don’t have enough food. These birds aren’t very large so that’s pretty surprising!

[@agentid36]

The "fitting in" version of the not-actually-real 5 monkeys ladder experiment.

[@danieldaponte1819]

Emily's excitement is infectious! She's wonderful!

[@disaidra]

This is the first question on this show I've immediately known the answer to. Puffins are truly adorable

[@mk_rexx]

Got the answer pretty late, when the SPOILER lawn flamingo was mentioned. I remember a sadder version of decoy birds story where someone recorded a lone bird (different species) trying to interact with the decoys. I don't remember if it was a happy ending where eventually the rest of the flock followed through or not. Edit: It was a bad ending. Nigel the gannet died beside its decoy mate while the island is still not repopulated. :(

[@Ketraar]

Guess we need a Prime Directive type thing for decoys! 😆

[@fakjbf3129]

Fun fact about kea, they will land on the backs of sheep and use their sharp beaks to tear open the sheep’s skin to eat the subcutaneous fat underneath.

[@theramendutchman]

No that's not fun, at all!

[@dannymac6368]

As a Scot who lived near York, ME, I used to get slightly concerned when carrying my crossbow.

[@gigglesvids3561]

This is the first question I had seen the answer to online already! 😀 Cool to see Bernadette Banner here! Look forward to listening to the full podcast 😊

[@Stirdix]

My very first thought was that they were mimicking lawn flamingos; glad I was so close

[@tomcardale5596]

Excellent typo on the "wringing the bird's legs" subtitle! Ringing the birds vs wringing their necks.

[@grammy1620]

Oh that makes so much sense now! And I thought wringing was some weird British slang

[@tomcardale5596]

@@grammy1620 you wring a bird's neck to kill it. You ring a bird's leg to identify it.

[@markwright3161]

@@tomcardale5596 Does that make wringing a bird's leg how you identify a dead one :) If only the puffins knew this. They could have identified the decoys instead of tiring themselves out by standing on 1 leg :)

[@mittens1720]

One of my favourite questions! So adorable! 🤩 great guests too! I love how this pod continually introduces me to amazing and bizarre stories, as well as incredible creators and science communicators. I’ve discovered so many other cool creators from this. Tom Scott you’re a legend!

[@lightningwingdragon]

Once again, I ask you, where is Chris Joel, Ornithologist?

[@MercenaryPen]

Good question- he might have stood a better chance with a question about ornith-illogical behaviour like this

[@jello3456543]

I thought it was going to be that the reintroduced puffins were fostered by flamingos pre-reintroduction.

[@Pandsu]

They probably did it ironically at first and then just couldn't stop

[@valentinaaugustina]

i actually saw this exact island and the tour guides told us the same story. ahhh they are so so so cute

[@crash.override]

Oh no, the researchers introduced a meme into puffins. Next thing you know, we'll have IRL Unpopular Opinion Puffins! 😨

[@alexander0the0gray]

I’m from Maine and we visit the coast frequently. Puffins are a staple here, and there are all over our tourist brochures and they are a wonderful, native species - Literally never have seen one in the wild in my life 😂

[@tehGazzy]

Same! I was made fun of in 3rd grade when I had to do a presentation on an animal native to Maine. I chose the Puffin, but as no one in my class, myself included, had ever actually SEEN a Puffin, everyone started calling me a liar and said that I had cheated on my project. 😅

[@karenpost710]

My favorite highlight so far!

[@CinnamonPinch]

Aww, this was the cutest Lateral question ever!!!

[@JulianDanzerHAL9001]

who could forget the story of the duck dealer in the parking lot

[@JoelRipke]

I listened to this full episode yesterday, and this story made me belly laugh

[@olafurw]

If you google "puffin maine one leg" you'll see plenty of adorable photos.

[@punksci6879]

Kea are the only alpine parrots and are more distinctive than bored teenagers, Kākāpō are the big flightless parrots that will hump anything.

[@Dave_Sisson]

Kea are the only alpine parrots in NZ. But in Australia you get crimson rosellas living in the snow, just below the tree line all year round.

[@neon-kitty]

The fact that Bernadette shook her head when Emily asks if they know the size of an American turkey xDDD. Her neck muscles were clearly on autopilot there.

[@dietznuts8106]

currently at 5:12 and im gonna guess that they tuck the legs cos theyre mimicking the fake-animal/hidden-cameras that are all propped up on one shaft or something edit: okay i was almost right, but kinda missing crucial details. i'll take this as a 0.5. currently at 2.5 out of 62 on these im on fire🔥🔥

[@allanrichardson1468]

Name a puffin Opus, tell him he’s a penguin, and put him in a comic strip!

[@Cillana]

When I think of flamingos I don't think of standing on one leg. I think of eating with your head upside down.

[@timothyrosenvall1496]

I hear mentioned the hunting of wild birds to extinction and I have just echoing around the back of my head in Will Seawards voice “Panthers”.

[@fariesz6786]

poor puffins were just polite and adopted the local customs

[@Rwededyet]

Meanwhile, the Puffins are wondering why we keep changing our clocks twice a year for no damned reason

[@JulianDanzerHAL9001]

a country sized bird sounds scary indeed

[@QemeH]

"From back in... the american equivalent of medieval times." So... 100 years ago? :D

[@paulmcmanus6222]

Having adapted to standing on one leg. Then, finding out that made them the geeks of the avian world, they were so mortified that they decided there was no other choice but to emulate lemmings.

[@VonOzbourne]

This is one of those ones where I had the idea immediately, (I've seen tetras that learned how to swim from a puffer and they were really weird) just not the part about the bird they picked up the habit from being not a real bird.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

Both Kea and Kakapo are parrots. Kea are the ones that fly, they're smart, cheeky and rip things off cars in alpine areas. Kakapo are a ground parrot, 64cm tall, nocturnal and highly intelligent.

[@WhereWasItLastTime]

Hmmm, puffins. Surprised that nobody's mentioned that if you were to see a puffin today, at the onset of winter, you might not recognise it as a puffin. That's because the outer bill moults, or falls off, leaving a smaller and duller-coloured bill - also, the dark markings around their eyes disappear. Every day's a school day and I claim my five points 😉

[@SheldonBird]

Wow, Puffin Fashion history is very interesting!

[@Phant0m51]

*crosses off puffin from the list of birds I want to eat one day* *makes note* "too cute"

[@TheLifeOfRyanB]

We owe it to the world to spread the puffin meme to all puffins

[@gejyspa]

And here I thought the answer was going to be that they were fostered in zoos by flamingo families before being reintroduced.

[@bowel_movement]

Feels good to be able to sit a question out, even as a viewer!

[@DrZaius3141]

You can google "puffin standing on one leg" and will probably find the mentioned photograph.

[@nadamuchu]

The puffins were wise to respect the ancient monuments left behind by their ancestors.

[@verdatum]

BWAAAAAA!!! It's Emily! SHE IS THE BEST PERSON.

[@RichardLordRix]

Danni's reaction at the end is just so cute!

[@MachineBone]

I see Emily of the brain scoop fame and I click every time.

[@jakeypakey2]

Maine commenter here! Loved this

[@smithandshortdogs]

This reminds me of the story of the deer in Czechia who will not cross into Germany because of the iron curtain.

[@Gottrahmen]

my first thought was that they were mimicking lawn flamingos, and then I thought about it some more and realized it didn't make sense (I think those plastic usually have two legs?), but very surprised to find out how warm I was

[@SourceOfBeing]

0:25 - Did some of them basically get adopted or raised by the flamingos?

[@dantower8268]

Lol. Puffin imposter syndrome. I don't think I can even

[@TravelSoGood]

So weird, I just released a vlog yesterday where we visited puffins in Wales! They really are as cute as they look in real life too.

[@phileo_ss]

I believe a lot of bird species stand/perch on one leg, not just water fowl.

[@petenielsen6683]

Opus (of Bloom County in the 1980s comic strip) was reminded that he resembled a puffin more than he resembled a penguin.

[@blockbertus]

Has someone a list of podcast episodes outside of Lateral where Tom Scott was a guest in?

[@Hannah_Em]

awwww, the puffins got peer pressured by decoys into starting a trend

[@BlazeClone]

lol, i wish we could watch the full podcast with video

[@thehun1234]

I wonder if someone introduced one-legged puffin decoys in their British breeding areas, would the British puffins also start to stand on one leg only? Or would the "traditional" puffins thanks to their large numbers prevent this?

[@MrDannyDetail]

I hope that Tom wasn't asking 'were they wringing the birds legs', as per the subtitles, as that seems a rather cruel thought.

[@beeb6730]

I'm assuming it should be ringing, as in putting a marker ring on a bird leg which is common

[@alaster555]

And hear was I thinking the researchers were using hand puppets to feed/teach the puffin hatchlings and they were noticing the arm as a single leg.

[@stapler942]

I tried to verify this story and I could only find an article about the reintroduction project's success and the use of decoys and the picture used is a puffin which "appears to" mimic the decoy according to the figure text, but the article itself doesn't mention that behaviour occurring in general. The source of the claim appears to be an image with the same photo and a text caption saying this happened, which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt.

[@lateralcast]

There are quotes from Audubon staff running this programme here: www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna20462551

[@stapler942]

@@lateralcast I did read that exact article, but nowhere in the body of that article does a staff member claim that multiple puffins were observed standing on one leg. The only time this is mentioned is in the caption for that one photo, and it seems to be an editorial inference, not a statement about the general behaviour of puffins in Maine.

[@lateralcast]

Puffins are very social birds and are fooled by decoys quite easily. The birds will interact with the decoys displaying various natural behaviours, some of which are mentioned by the Audubon people here: seabirdinstitute.audubon.org/conservation/atlantic-puffin-courtship-behavior-and-decoys

[@DuncanJimmy]

The Kea used to be one of my favorite birds until a farmer friend of mine angrily objected by explaining that they developed a taste for sheep meat as a result of farmers leaving carcasses hung out to drain the blood. The problem became so serious farmers killed approx. 150,000 of them before the government gave them full protection in 1986, though it was poorly enforced and numbers have now dropped down to less than 10,000. This, unfortunately, is what happens when a literal paradise for birds is invaded by humans less than 1,000 years ago who bring rabbits, stoats, rats, deer and other animals for recreational hunting and then get upset when the tables are turned after burning off as much forest as they can get their hands on. Since then NZ has created unprecedented reserves for native birds that are the envy of the world and entirely pest-free, though the struggle to prevent extinction of several species remains a real challenge due to the introduction of rats, stoats and other predators.

[@teamcyeborg]

They saw a bunch of plastic lawn flamingos and got jealous

[@teamcyeborg]

Oh wow I was actually very close that was a joke

[@paradoxica424]

always say it even if it’s a joke; you never know how close you’ll get with Lateral Questions

[@tehvvisard]

This reminds me of the chimpanzee where they had bananas on a table and as soon as they went to grab one the set of sprinklers. After a while they learned to not touch the bananas and then the scientist introduced a new chimpanzee. When they (do we say they for animals?) went for the bananas the other chimpanzees tried to stop it. Eventually the scientist had replaced all chimpanzees with new ones one by one and the new ones had been learned to not touch the bananas but not why.

[@WyvernYT]

It works the other way too. A friend's father worked with chimps and one day they got a new chimp, one that didn't know about the electric fence. All the other chimps gathered nearby as the new guy climbed a tree - and got himself zapped real good by the electric fence. Then all the others chortled to themselves, because they knew better than to do that.

[@timothymclean]

5:35: What's the American equivalent of medieval times? The nineteenth century?

[@johnsmith99997]

500 years from now there will be a species of puffin evolved with 1 super powerful leg, only found in maine

[@Schenkel101]

I wonder if the puffins that stood on one leg were less likely to be hunted.

[@yurisei6732]

Flamingo standing on one leg is a regulation thing - they get fined if they don't adequately fit the stereotype.

[@torche72]

Did they reintroduce the decoys with 2 peg legs?

[@darrenmorby4753]

Puffins are learning to imitate flamingos, while black kites learn how to use arson to hunt (video "Beware: these birds kill hundreds"). And I'm just gonna leave this comment here.

[@MichaelJung-o6w]

I had a male dog who from a young age lived with female dogs, who squat when they pee. I saw the male dog squatting, so making sure he was looking at me, I bent over at the waist, lifted a leg. The male immediately understood and from that day forward lifted his leg to pee.

[@dantower8268]

Puffin looking at the flamingo... How do I get to Miami?!?

[@ghost307]

In one town in New Jersey, it's illegal to show a vasectomy scar to a nun while jaywalking.

[@nitehawk86]

"The American equivalent of the Medieval times." Speaking as an American, I believe that is the current times.

[@cybergeek11235]

Too real, man

[@LiveFreeOrDieDH]

Now I wonder what other ways humans have been influencing puffin culture??

[@KernelLeak]

Pop-Up Puffins on Maine?

[@Scott-i9v2s]

"Imitation is the best compliment" (or something like that...)

[@m4ciejmoskala]

let's gooo I love these

[@kf10147]

🥇

[@timseguine2]

Fun fact: Toucan eat as cheaply as one

[@MyInitialsAreCBD]

I remember this from Qi: Quite Interesting.

[@asifeh]

I want to see the photo. Tom edit in the video please

[@loddude5706]

So; given their observant nature, how many episodes of The Magic Roundabout must the average puffin sit (or stand?) through, before they learn to take-off like Zebedee? More tea! : )

[@dustypartition]

I was really hoping the answer was that they ate the same krill that turns flamingos pink.

[@Htonartnomed]

Yes! the *BIRD* species :P

[@dantower8268]

The car / bird / kia connection?!? What are we not being told!?!