The ‘bright orange’ bird was spotted on the A41 near the motorway in 2019
A veterinary hospital was shocked when they discovered that the bright orange bird they had taken in wasn’t as ‘exotic’ as they first thought.
In 2019, a bird that looked tropical was found randomly on the side of the A41.
It was struggling and couldn’t fly for a little while, according to the vets at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Aylesbury.
Tiggywinkles took the bird in, thinking that its bright colors meant it came from another country.
However, when the rescuers decided to give the bird a wash, they realized that orange wasn’t its real color.
After being washed with hot water and soap, it became clear that the bird actually had white feathers.
The ‘bright orange’ bird was spotted on the A41 near the motorway in 2019 (Tiggywinkles)
The vets figured out that it was a seagull that had somehow gotten covered in curry or turmeric.
“We don’t know how he ended up like this, but luckily, besides the bright color and strong smell, he was healthy,” said Tiggywinkles Hospital on Facebook back then.
“This bright-orange herring gull was saved by some nice people who saw him by the A41.
“When they called to tell us they found an orange bird, we had no clue what to think – and we would have never imagined this.
Vets realised that Vinny wasn’t as ‘exotic’ as they thought (Tiggywinkles)
This is one of the weirdest situations involving a casualty that we’ve seen in a long time.
The most likely explanation is that the bird, named Vinny after a spicy dish, took a swim in some curry water before flying away.
We can only wish that there weren’t any plans to cook him. Nobody wants to see seagull tikka masala on the menu.
“Our veterinary team courageously washed the gull to get his feathers clean,” Tiggywinkles said.
“He got them all messy with curry water, but in the end, he let us wash him off.
Vinny without a curry-coloured tan (Tiggywinkles)
He looks a lot better now and should be ready for release really soon.
A picture of Vinny has popped up again on social media, and people are joking that ‘it’s like a bird version of a fake tan.’
Another person joked: “Looks like the folks who found him got too ‘curried away’ to check properly.”
“Seagull works part-time at a takeaway. Times are tough, man,” a third person added.
“That’s sad, but honestly, seagulls are the crazy ones in the sky. It probably tried to snatch some curry and ended up getting soaked instead,” someone else said.
Featured Image Credit: Tiggywinkles
