Some concerned members of the public rescued an ‘exotic’ bird and took it to a veterinary hospital but it turned out to just be a seagull covered in curry.
You’d think we’d be used to seeing those birds covered in food by now – they dig in to our chips and ice creams often enough. To be fair though, this was one truly messy bird.
The funny-looking animal was spotted at the side of the A41 by some baffled passersby who decided to take it upon themselves to save it, possibly thinking it was some rare or endangered bird.
PixabayThey called ahead to the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, who didn’t know what to think when they were told an orange bird was being brought in.
Though all sorts of things were probably running through their mind, I imagine the reality exceeded expectations.
The hospital wrote on Facebook:
This is one of the strangest casualty circumstances we have seen in a while!
This bright-orange herring gull was rescued by kind members of the public who spotted him at the side of the A41.
Posted by Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital on Monday, July 1, 2019
Tiggwinkles explained the seagull, through inexplicable circumstances, had found itself covered in what looked like curry – though could also have been turmeric.
Whatever it was, it had coated his feathers and prevented him from flying properly but thanks to the heroic humans who took him to the hospital he was able to get cleaned up.
Staff at the hospital decided to name the bird Vinny, after a vindaloo curry.
PexelsThe Facebook post continued:
We have no idea how he got into this predicament but thankfully, apart from the vibrant colour and pungent smell, he was healthy.
Our veterinary team bravely bathed the gull to clean off his feathers. He managed to cover them in curry water, but eventually did let us scrub him clean.
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!
Huge thanks to the lovely finders who stopped to rescue him.
Posted by Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital on Monday, July 1, 2019
It’s hard to imagine how Vinny came to end up so covered in curry but clues could lie in another case of curried gull which occurred in 2016.
According to The Guardian, an orange bird was taken in to Vale wildlife hospital, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, after falling into a vat of chicken tikka masala.
Thankfully vets were able to wash the curry off and the seagull returned to its normal colour, though unfortunately the curry smell lingered.
We may never know how Vinny came to be covered in the orange substance but hopefully now he’ll manage to avoid the same thing happening again in the future!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.