Editing 3069: Terror Bird

{{comic
| number    = 3069
| date      = March 28, 2025
| title     = Terror Bird
| image     = terror_bird_2x.png
| imagesize = 342x274px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = There has long been debate about Big Bird's species, with some experts claiming he was a canary, but recent genetic analysis places him firmly in Cariamiformes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The explanation is not a transcript. Need to actually explain the comic, not describe the scene.}}

Members of the large prehistoric family of birds {{w|Phorusrhacidae}} are often known colloquially as "terror birds", which could also be described as "big birds", similar to the "Big Bird" character from {{w|Sesame Street}}. [[Hairy]] implies to [[Jill]] that the character Big Bird is really meant to be based on the extinct terror birds and therefore should be made to be scarier if the writers of Sesame Street were to be realistic.

The title text claims that there is ongoing scientific debate about Big Bird's species. Initially, likely due to his color, he was thought to be a {{w|Yellow canary|canary}}.<ref>Borgenicht, David. ''Sesame Street Unpaved: Scripts, Stories, Secrets and Songs''. Hyperion Press, 1998.</ref>  He has more recently been placed in the order {{w|Cariamiformes}}, which the terror birds belong to. This text is likely intended to mirror what somebody might say about the {{w|Seriema|seriemas}}, modern-day birds also in the Cariamiformes, as if Big Bird were the descendant of these birds. [https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/what-if-anything-is-big-bird Actual scientific analysis] seems to suggest that Big Bird is in fact related to the {{w|whooping crane}}.

The comic implies that the Big Bird species is extinct. This could be a reference to current events (there was a Congressional [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/business/media/pbs-npr-congressional-hearing.html hearing] March 26, 2025 in which one of the topics was whether funding for PBS would be reduced or eliminated). It is worth mentioning, though, that Sesame Street is not directly owned by PBS, but rather by [https://sesameworkshop.org/ Sesame Workshop] which is itself a 501(c)(3) organization.

==Transcript==
:[Jill and Hairy are standing together, looking up at the skeleton of a very large bird. The skeleton, that towers more than two times the height of Hairy, is being displayed on a low podium. There is an information stand in front of the podium, for the benefit of visitors.]
:Hairy: Wow.
:Hairy: Now that we know how scary they were, do you think Sesame Street will update him?

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Animals]]