Bird Or Bunny? Social Media Confused Over Optical Illusion Animal
By Leah Asmelash and Brian Ries, CNN
(CNN) -- It's a bird! It's a rabbit!
No, it's definitely a bird. But hey, you be the judge.
A video of a black animal getting a nice scratch is spreading quickly around the internet as people take sides in yet another great debate.
Daniel Quintana, a scientist at the University of Oslo in Norway, is responsible for all this -- he found the video on an image-sharing website on Sunday and tweeted it, saying, "Rabbits love getting stroked on their nose."
You see it, right?
Since then, it's blown up -- all because Quintana played on a famous optical illusion wherein a rabbit looks like a bird, and a bird looks like a rabbit. His video alone has been viewed millions of times.
But here's the thing: CNN has in fact verified that not only does the video show a bird, it's specifically an African White-necked Raven named Mischief.
He belongs to the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri, and is 18-years-old. Look -- here he is saying, "Hi."
The video Quintana posted was taken, at some point, from Paige Davis, Curator of Bird Training at the sanctuary.
Davis told CNN that Mischief is actually already quite famous, especially for his talking.
"He has gone viral several times with millions of views," she said.
Mischief flies, talks, paints, and much more, she explained, calling him "a very talented bird."
When he's not getting his head scratched, Mischief works as an educational ambassador for his species, Davis explained, where he teaches people all about ravens, conservation, and the ways we all can help animals.
"He even recycles cans and bottles, showing that recycling is so easy, a bird can do it," she said. "His talents are endless."
Those talents, thankfully, do not include shape shifting across species.
The-CNN-Wire
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