What species is Big Bird from Sesame Street?

BRY2K

This is an issue of some debate. A 1981 episode of the PBS television program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” suggests otherwise. When Big Bird visited the Neighborhood of Make-Believe on the show, he told the character X the Owl he was a golden condor, a fictional bird species. Later in the episode, the character King Friday XIII asks Big Bird if he’s related to the cassowary. Big Bird tells the king he’s more like a condor. The “conflict” over Big Bird’s species stems from two mediums: print and television. In his book “Sesame Street Unpaved: Scripts, Stories, Secrets, and Songs,” David Borgenicht lists Big Bird’s scientific name as Bigus canarius. The name would presumably translate into the pseudo-English phrase “Big canary.” http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-news/2008/07/09/big-bird-species.aspx Nov 10 09, 6:56 AM

star_gazer

Happy Birthday Big Bird! He is 40 years old today. Nov 10 09, 8:14 AM