Cryptozoology: Could the Thunderbird Actually Exist?

The Thunderbird is one of the most readily recognized icons of American Indian mythology. While the image has largely been co-opted by commercial interest and cultural appropriation, it still remains a powerful mythological figure and religious icon. While the vast majority of biologists believe the Thunderbird myth to be nothing more than a spiritual symbol, some cryptozoologists believe that the bird may actually exist.

I still vividly recall seeing an impossibly large raptor when I was five years old, which a few people have said might be the Thunderbird of indigenous lore. Standing in my grandmother's back yard in the Lookout Mountain region of Alabama, I recall watching an enormous black bird with a swallow-like tail swoop down from an oak tree and fly directly over me, just a few feet above my head. Its wingspan seemed to be at least three times my height, which would have made it at least fourteen feet across.

While the accuracy of early childhood memory is often flimsy at best and wholly unreliable at worst, I find myself picking the vivid memory carefully to tease out the details of the "Thunderbird" and its potential for actually existing. To this very day, I sometimes stand on my grandmother's property, eyeballing the old oak tree, but I have yet to see another bird that resembles the giant bird. I have seen turkey vultures, eagles, and hawks-- but never another Thunderbird.

Other modern sightings of what may have been thunderbirds have also occured. In 1977, three boys were playing in a residential neighborhood in Illinois. They reported that two large birds chased after the boys. While two were unharmed, one of the boys was attacked and suffered somewhat serious injuries. He was carried several feet, a few feet off the ground, before the bird dropped him and disappeared into the wilderness.

Several people interviewed the boys and their story remained consistent, even under the pressure of interrogation. The description of the birds somewhat matched the Andean condor; however, these massive vultures have never been known to exist in the United States. Still, the possibility of escaped or wandering Andean condors may be more likely than the actual existence of the mythological Thunderbird.

Another sighting of what might have been a Thunderbird came in 2002, in Alaska, when many people reported seeing a bird with a fourteen-foot wingspan. After being investigated by several orinthologists, it was ultimately concluded that the bird was most likely a particularly large Steller's sea eagle, which typically has a wingspan of six to eight feet. As with the other sightings, most orinthologists err on the side of probability and assume that the "Thunderbird" sighting was a misidentification.

Biologists, conservationists, and bird-watchers by hobby scan the skies of the United States daily, with such detailed examination that accurate counts of many endangered species are maintained. Even very small, endangered birds are watched closely and carefully in the deepest wilderness areas. Thunderbirds, which would by definition be quite large, would be easily seen and identified by those who study birds, even if they were nesting in very low-population areas.

Logically, it remains unlikely that Thunderbirds, or any other large raptors, could exist in breeding-level populations while evading detection by conservationists and orinthologists. Particularly considering that they were never commonly seen, even before the days of crytozoology, the Thunderbird is in all probability a mere mythological figure.

Still, the believers will remain believers. I will probably never know what the strange-looking giant bird was that swooped down from the oak tree all those years ago, and biologists will probably never be able to fully confirm the identity of the giant raptors spotted in Illinois and Alaska. If the Thunderbird does indeed exist, it will probably continue to remain mysterious and elusive.

Sources: CNN.com, Reuters 8 Oct 02. "Massive bird spotted in Alaska". Clark, Jerome (1993). Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Visible Ink Press.