Rescuers find ‘exotic’ orange bird, later discover it’s a seagull covered in curry

Passersby in the UK were in for quite a shock when they rescued this bird from the side of the road. It seemed to be some kind of exotic bird with bright orange feathers that was having trouble flying.

At the Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, where they took the bird for treatment, the veterinarians soon realized that the bird was in fact a seagull that was covered in curry!

“We had no idea what to expect — and would never have guessed this!” the hospital wrote, adding that it looked like the seagull was covered “in curry or turmeric.”

After a quick checkup, hospital staff decided that the bird was perfectly healthy apart from smelling a bit “pungent”.

They decided to name him Vinny, after the Indian dish vindaloo, before releasing him into the wild.

This is apparently not the first time that wildlife experts have had to deal with an exotic bird that turned out to be a seagull covered in curry.

A few years ago, a seagull named Gullfrazie fell into a vat of chicken tikka masala while trying to sneak a couple of bites at a food factory in the UK.

“The thing that shocked us the most was the smell,” veterinary nurse Lucy Kells said at the time. “He smelled amazing, he smelled really good.”

Hopefully, Vinny and Gullfrazie have learned their lesson and will stay well away from food factories that have large vats of curry simmering away.