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Rare, Majestic Bird Keeps Photobombing Northern Lights Observation Camera

The Northern Lights are an elusive spectacle. To help you see it, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a Canadian nonprofit research facility, has set up an observation camera with a live feed located within the “aurora oval” that encircles the geomagnetic North Pole.

The camera’s watchers have gotten a little more than they bargained for. A majestic-looking gyrfalcon with a very cool plumage pattern has been photobombing the camera, appearing “over a dozen times.” Chances are you’ll never see this bird live, so here’s your up-close look at it:

You’ve probably never heard of a gyrfalcon, so here are some…

…Gyrfalcon Fun Facts

- They come in white, silver, brown and black, with the white one captured on camera being the most rare color

- At two feet or more in length they’re the largest falcon in the world. The wingspan of the males can exceed four feet; for females it can exceed five feet

- Rather than building their own nests to breed, they choose to use cliff ledges or the abandoned nests of other birds. So these guys are basically avian deadbeat squatters. (Bowerbirds, on the other hand, are industrious and talented architects)

- In bygone European times when falconry was popular, only royalty and noblemen had gyrfalcons on their wrists. So these were like, the medieval version of the Apple Watch

- While it is impossible to prove that the gyrfalcon is the falcon in “Falcon Crest,” it’s also impossible to disprove it

As for why the bird keeps coming back, Canada’s CBC News got to the bottom of it with the Churchill Northern Studies Centre’s Assistant Director, Heidi den Haan:

According to den Haan, the falcon was there long before the camera, and because birds are territorial it keeps coming back. The height of the tower is another reason it likes to be there, she said.

“There’s not a lot of height around Churchill,” she said. “The trees are…small so any kind of a tower would be preferable for the bird to sit on.”