Traditionally, April Fools' Day is a time to play pranks, share hoaxes, and tell jokes. April Fool stories published by newspapers and other media outlets may trick readers into believing tall tales -- until they realize the date. Here are some bird-themed funnies that have come out on April Fools' Days in the past.

A lot of April Fool jokes involving crazy bird stories originated from photo manipulation -- an old-fahsioned version of "photoshopping". Examples of this include a German paper exposing a penguin as tall as a man in 1931; that time in 1941 when a newspaper revealed a military plan to plant bombs on crows; and the strange and silly rare human-legged ostrich that reportedly puzzled scientists in 1953 Australia.

Google is known to reveal a prank each April Fools' Day, often involving a new product or service in their technology offering. In 2002 they introduced PigeonRank to the world, exposing the truth behind their search technology. Pigeon Clusters (PCs) were the true power Google used to rank and sort web pages. The somewhat elaborate story behind PigeonRank was shared in detail, including graphs and diagrams and a FAQ.

A popular video was released by the BBC in April Fools' Day 2008 which showed Adelie Penguins taking flight. At the time it was one of the most viewed internet videos.

A mysterious physical April Fools' Day prank was played on the town of Portage, Wisconsin in 2012. Plastic lawn geese dressed in different outfits were placed around businesses, homes, and services in the city. In all, 132 geese were found. Although the perpetrators were not made known, no one who received a goose seemed to mind. Read this extremely wholesome newspaper report on the incident.

Then there was that time when we revealed a new species of crane that was discovered in South America. We even shared a colorful Birdorable image of the new species, which we dubbed the Painted Crane (Grus pictus). This April Fool prank came out just as we were celebrating Crane Week -- it was an incredible coincidence!

Watch out for more pranks and hoaxes as you go about your day and keep in mind the date! Happy April Fools' Day!

This week, we're celebrating the gulls of the world!
Today we're wrapping up the week with a little bit of gull humor!

What do you call a gull when it flies over a bay?

A bagel! (bay-gull)

"Haha! That's funny! Tell another!" (photo by Amy Evenstad)

What do you call a gull that works online?

An eagle! (e-gull)

"Wait, what? I don't get it." (photo by Amy Evenstad)

What did the gull say to the cat when its alarm clock went off?

"Kittiwake!" (kitty wake)

"Grooooaaaan!" (photo by Amy Evenstad)

Do you know any gull jokes? Let us know in the comments.

We're celebrating Vulture Week because this Saturday, September 6th, marked International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD). This commemorative day has been celebrated since at least 2009 and aims to highlight the importance of vultures and vulture conservation through education. Happy Monday, vulture lovers! Here are some vulture jokes to kick off your week with a laugh!

Vulture underwear joke:

Q: What is a vulture's favorite kind of underwear?
A: Thermals! They're always flying in them.

Vulture airplane joke:

A vulture boards an airplane with three dead raccoons. The flight attendant says to him, "I'm sorry, sir, it's only two carrion per passenger."

Vulture clown joke:

Two vultures are in a field, eating a dead clown. One vulture says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?"

Rare vulture joke:

A White-backed Vulture, a California Condor, and a Red-headed Vulture walk into a bar. The bartender says, "This is amazing, I better call the Audubon Society!"

Do you know any vulture jokes? Share them with us in the comments! In the meanwhile, have a great week, everyone, and remember to always...

The Egyptian Plover is a beautiful species of wader that lives in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the common name, their present range does not extend to any part of Egypt. The bird is sometimes known by another name: Crocodile Bird.

During his travels to Egypt in 459 BC, the Greek historian Herodotus recorded a fascinating observation: a small bird, which he identified as the Egyptian Plover, engaging in what appeared to be a symbiotic interaction with a crocodile. According to Herodotus, this bird was seen picking out food from the open mouth of a crocodile, a behavior presumed to be mutually beneficial. The crocodile would receive a thorough cleaning of its teeth, while the bird enjoyed an effortless meal.

However, the reliability of this account has been a subject of debate. Herodotus, known as the world's first historian, was also nicknamed "The Father of Lies," suggesting that some of his observations might have been exaggerated or misinterpreted. The myth of the Crocodile Bird was later revived by explorers and naturalists in the 19th and 20th centuries, with personal eyewitness accounts from a German zoologist and a British birdwatcher. Yet, these accounts have been widely disputed and lack substantial corroborative evidence.

In fact, there is no definitive scientific record of a cleaning symbiotic relationship between any crocodilian species and any bird species. This absence of evidence casts doubt on the validity of the Egyptian Plover's role as a Crocodile Bird.

Despite the questionable authenticity of this behavior, the moniker "Crocodile Bird" undeniably adds an aura of intrigue and mystique to the Egyptian Plover. It's a nickname that captures the imagination, painting a picture of a fearless bird in a daring dance with one of nature's most formidable reptiles. Despite its questionable background, the nickname Crocodile Bird does make the Egyptian Plover sound kind of cool, don't you think?

May is Warbler Neck Awareness Month. Warbler Neck (WN) Awareness is promoted with a cerulean blue awareness ribbon, one side of which is transformed into a feather, shown here at left. Over the next few weeks, we'll be highlighting WN and how it affects birders during migration. We'll discuss the symptoms and remedies (to stop birding altogether is not an option most sufferers choose). We'll also be sharing our new line of Warbler Neck Awareness designs with you. Our Birdorable line of WN designs feature the cerulean blue awareness ribbon-feather, and a cute Birdorable warbler or two. This awareness campaign kicks off today and will continue through the next few weeks, both here on Birdorable and at our sister site for birders, MagnificentFrigatebird.com.

This week's featured t-shirt is this design featuring our Birdorable Cardinal thinking "One day I'm going to be the Pope!". This is a funny design for birdwatchers, backyard birders and cardinal lovers. Cardinal is just one step away from Pope, after all.

The Kakapo, also called the Owl Parrot, is a large flightless parrot endemic to New Zealand. This species is critically endangered; as of April 2009 there were only 125 living individuals known. The BBC recently posted this funny Kakapo video that's been making the rounds on the web. Actor Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine travel to New Zealand for the program Last Chance To See to look for Kakapos in the wild. During their encounter, Carwardine gets more than he bargained for:

Inspired by this funny video and several customer requests, we've added the Kakapo to Birdorable! Our cute Kakapo products are available via Zazzle, which allows customization. This means that you can choose from hundreds of apparel styles and colors, and you can add text to Birdorable designs as you see fit! Just pick any Kakapo shirt and then click on Customize it! Here are some Kakapo shirts to which I've added custom text. Why don't you go ahead and give it a try! You can play with the customization with no obligation to buy.