These Birds Do Not Exist.

February 8, 2022 2:38 PM

I trained an AI on public domain bird illustrations from old books. Ornithologists and birders, I'd LOVE it if you were able to still ID some of these weirdos. I'll share some of the "normal" results first, the ones that kinda sorta look like real birds. (sltwitter -- threadreader link)
posted by curious nu (21 comments total)

Finally, some illustrations for not real birds
posted by phooky at 2:49 PM on February 8, 2022

My foolproof bird taxonomy guide
1) size : either Greater or Lesser
2) prominent feature : e.g. crested, feather-footed, red-tailed
3)habitat: e.g. prairie, mountain, gutter
4) pigeon

I currently have a Lesser pointy-beaked curb pigeon just outside my office window. I've written it in my journal.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:50 PM on February 8, 2022 [30 favorites]

This cracked me up!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:53 PM on February 8, 2022

Tag yourself.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 3:21 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Pretty crazy. But it makes me wonder about other possibilities that just didn’t happen. Like, the hook-billed kite mostly eats snails, so it doesn’t really need to be raptor-shaped. There could be something like a green heron with a similar, snail grabbin’ bill. Or a hook-billed snail grackle.
posted by snofoam at 3:24 PM on February 8, 2022

I'm shocked there are no crabs.
posted by tmt at 3:49 PM on February 8, 2022 [6 favorites]

These are extremely uncanny valley.
posted by y2karl at 3:52 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

I am somewhat glad that these particular Birds Aren’t Real.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 4:11 PM on February 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

That's some serious camouflaging

The Brown Hopper

(shown during molting season)

Play some Slim Whitman at this one and see if it explodes!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:26 PM on February 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Sometimes I think AI worship is going too far.
posted by viborg at 4:36 PM on February 8, 2022

Not many people know that hummingbirds have a larval stage

One of the lesser-know Dali paintings, "The Persistence Of Birds"

"Oh now would you just look at the state of this water! Tsk. I wouldn't put even a rotten egg in that."
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:36 PM on February 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

This was great! Thank you for the threadreader link but too bad the images don’t link to higher quality versions.
posted by brachiopod at 5:24 PM on February 8, 2022

Nightingmares
posted by Phanx at 6:02 PM on February 8, 2022 [7 favorites]

A former colleague has some very similar works in his practice, including botanicals and fish.
posted by goHermGO at 6:11 PM on February 8, 2022

AIs need to stop.
No, really, just stop.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:44 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

I thought this might just be a collection of birds that are now extinct. Which would be sadly all to easy to compile, especially from this source material.
But, hey, now my next fever dream will be a great way to get into birding.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 8:11 PM on February 8, 2022

Makes me wonder if some of the visions of mystics and prophets are generated in a similar fashion. Ezekiel saw the wheel...
posted by clawsoon at 9:04 PM on February 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Some of these are just halfheartedly disguised real birds, e.g. this normal, everyday puffin in a parrot suit.
posted by jon1270 at 3:49 AM on February 9, 2022

normal, everyday puffin in a parrot suit

Which, incidentally, is my new username.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:07 AM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

I do love the Asshole-Faced Corncob Warbler here.
posted by FatherDagon at 1:03 PM on February 9, 2022

I can’t find a good gallery link but a friend showed me several Max Ernst bird paintings that wouldn’t look too out of place with these.
posted by brachiopod at 2:29 PM on February 9, 2022