An explanation for the legend of the Thunderbird

I was lucky enough to be able to video an electrical storm that was directly above my home during the May 28th thunderstorms. The one that was directly above was actually "dry" and didn't have any rain. From the frames that I was able to capture (around 3000), around 100 were illuminated by
lightning strikes.

A few frames show direct illumination by lightning flashes and reveal a bird like shape around the centre of the thunderstorm. Other researchers have names for the different parts like horizontal vorticity, hook echo, mesocyclone.

The various legends describe the Thunderbird as carrying the thunderstorm on it's back, shooting lightning from its eyes as well as having snakes coming from its wings. Some of these features can be seen in this picture. This was taken with a smartphone with a resolution of around 1960 pixels. Most thunderstorms are about 0.5km to 2km up so each pixel could be between 0.3m and 1.5m across.

a reply to: stormcell That's a really cool picture and also, you may be on to something! Lots of natural phenomenon happenings caused them to think it was from "the gods"

Eh maybe

But what harkens back to my history and mythology from Texas.

We knew what storms were were knew what lightening was, of course there was mythology attached.

What I DO wonder, is , were there birds, that were present back in the days, that could only be airborne like that because of the updrafts that storms provide?

Did it take winds like that to keep them aloft?

Were they the last remnants of dinosaurs that adapted to being in those areas becasue of the frequent storms?

Nice pic, that's the actual color? Nice! I agree with others you may be onto something or at least close with that. I've seen odd birds and shapes on night, slightly windy(if I recall correctly not stormy though), even when the mysterious bird or other other creature clipped the back of my car.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
Eh maybe

But what harkens back to my history and mythology from Texas.

We knew what storms were were knew what lightening was, of course there was mythology attached.

What I DO wonder, is , were there birds, that were present back in the days, that could only be airborne like that because of the updrafts that storms provide?

Did it take winds like that to keep them aloft?

Were they the last remnants of dinosaurs that adapted to being in those areas becasue of the frequent storms?

The legends are worldwide. Across Europe as well as North America. Californian condors are the largest birds known to alive at present. But species like the Argentavis Mangificens in the past were huge:

en.wikipedia.org...#/media/File:Argentavis-Magnificens.jpg

California condors build nests in mountain caves and tree trunks, so larger birds would be forced to do the same.

a reply to: stormcell

While that is really cool, I don't see the bird form. And ancient native Americans didn't have high fps cameras to possibly capture a bird shape during an electrical storm.

a reply to: watchitburn

I can kinda see a pteradactal (spelling? ) like shape wings wings more like arms in the upper half to the middle right, but may not have seen it without the OP talking about a thunder bird.
In Aotearoa we used to have an eagle type bird that would eat the Moa (type if bird kinda like ostrich) for breakfast. Moa (extinct ) were huge.

Here is a short article on the Thunderbird that covers the Native American legends along with some more modern legends.

Thunderbird Story Link

Personally I'd say the early legends come from the Native American's memory of the prehistoric teratorns that went extinct around 10,000 years ago when the proto-Indians arrived in the Americas. A while after the teratorns went extinct, they incorporated the bird into their religious beliefs as sky gods that controlled storms.

a reply to: watchitburn

Ayahuasca is a hell of a drug

a reply to: stormcell

The picture of the large black bird with a man standing next to it is what we call a Thunderbird in Texas, and no, they are not extinct, I have seen one. The reason they are thought to be extinct is because they prefer remote, high mountain top areas and rarely venture into lowlands. I believe both the most recent and the historically highest volumes of sightings are in an area near Big Bend national park and occasionally the Davis mountains.

I've seen a blue heron that was taller than me.
I'm 6'.

If thunderbirds did fly out when there were thunderstorms, then wouldn't they be killed off by the heavy hailstones, lightning bolts, downdrafts, microbursts, tornados and just about anything else?

a reply to: Cloudbuster

I don't think most would know what aotearoa means. It means new Zealand...and the bird was the haast eagle if I remember right.

a reply to: hiddenNZ

Yes your right, it just comes automatically out as Aotearoa. Yes the Haast eagle. I would love to sit in the bush and bird watch a Moa. I must look up where the Moa lived for my Manaaki whenua assignment. Kia ora e hoa.

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

Another possible factor is birds don't do so good at leaving remains. They break down pretty quickly to the point that even the fossil record of birds contains fewer examples than mammals. A dwindling species of bird might even go extinct without leaving a trace.

Maybe N. America supported a remnant species of huge bird that was already dying out before Europeans settled in. All of those mega fauna had gone extinct centuries earlier so let's say the 'thunderbird' had lost its main prey. Buffalo calves could have been good eating and then the herds were decimated for rail roads and agriculture and to crush the Native American tribes of the Southern States.

Unlikely? Probably. It still leaves a little room for the existence of a huge bird of prey to account for the few legends. It needn't have been football field sized, just bigger than what we know now and maybe larger than the condor.

Theres enough open space in this world for a rumor of a creature to live in relative peace. I've done alot of hiking and know that when you get off the beaten path space is plentiful. I suppose the biggest issue here is breading population. How many individual specimens would you need to sustain a population free from the problems of inbreeding? I suppose they could be somewhat like ocean going salmon and come back to a specific place to mate but that would also make them easier to spot.