Thunderbird

Overview

A massive bird-spirit central to many Indigenous North American traditions, paired in modern cryptozoology with reports of enormous unidentified birds with wingspans far exceeding any known living species.

Details

Origin:

Thunderbird traditions are recorded across the Pacific Northwest Coast, Great Lakes, Great Plains, American Southwest, and US East Coast. Modern cryptozoological 'giant bird' reports cluster in Illinois, Pennsylvania, the Ozarks, and Alaska.

Regions:

Pacific Northwest Coast, Great Lakes, Great Plains, Ohio River Valley, Mississippi River Valley, Allegheny Mountains, American Southwest

First Reported:

Pre-contact

Full Account

The Thunderbird is a powerful supernatural being widely depicted by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Great Lakes, Great Plains, American Southwest, and US East Coast. In Algonquian, Ojibwe, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, and other traditions, it generates thunder by flapping its wings and lightning by flashing its eyes, and is often portrayed in opposition to underwater serpents or 'horned' panthers. Archaeological evidence places thunderbird depictions in North America at least 4,000 years before present, with petroglyphs near Twin Bluffs, Wisconsin attributed to a shelter used circa 250 BCE to 1500 CE. In modern cryptozoology, 'Thunderbird' has been adopted to describe reports of giant birds with wingspans of 4.5–6 m (15–20+ ft), most famously in the 1977 Lawndale, Illinois case in which a 10-year-old boy was briefly lifted off the ground, and in a wave of Pennsylvania sightings investigated by researcher Stan Gordon in 2001. Mainstream science treats the cryptozoological 'Thunderbird' as misidentification of large extant raptors (golden eagles, vultures, condors), while the Indigenous Thunderbird remains a living cultural and spiritual presence distinct from the cryptid framing.

Also Known As

• Wakįnyą (Lakota, Great Plains)
• Animikii (Ojibwe (Anishinaabe), Great Lakes)
• Binesi (Ojibwe (Anishinaabe), Great Lakes)
• Piasa Bird (Mississippi River bluffs (Illinois))
• Kw-Uhnx-Wa (Lenape, Eastern Woodlands)

Etymology

Origin:

English calque of various Indigenous terms (e.g. Lakota Wakįnyą, Ojibwe Animikii) describing a supernatural bird that produces thunder. The cryptozoological usage was popularized in the 20th century by writers including Ivan T. Sanderson and John A. Keel.

Meaning:

Bird whose flight, eyes, or voice produce thunder and lightning

First Use:

English term in widespread anthropological use by the late 19th century

Timeline

• Pre-contact — Thunderbird depictions across Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes, Plains, and Eastern Woodlands cultures (Cultural baseline)
• 1977-07-25 — Lawndale, Illinois: 10-year-old Marlon Lowe is briefly lifted by a large bird outside his family home; mother Ruth Lowe is the primary witness (Most-cited modern Thunderbird case in cryptozoology)
• 2001-06-13 — Greenville, Pennsylvania: a resident reports a very large grayish-black bird soaring overhead (Opening incident of the 2001 Pennsylvania wave)
• 2001-07-06 — Erie County, Pennsylvania: witness reports a creature with an estimated 15-17 ft wingspan, 'dark gray with little or no neck, and a circle of black under its head' (Notable Erie County case in the 2001 wave)
• 2001-09-25 — South Greensburg, Pennsylvania: 19-year-old witness watches a huge dark bird over Route 119 for ~90 seconds, see it land on a dead tree which nearly breaks under the weight (Best-known Greensburg case)
• 2021-05-23 — Greensburg, Pennsylvania: another giant flying-creature report logged by Stan Gordon (Continuation of the Pennsylvania cluster)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Thunderbirds are widely held to be powerful, intentional beings deserving of respect; not 'monsters' but cosmological agents.

Related Phenomena

• Roc — Giant bird of Middle Eastern myth
• Ropen — Reported giant flying cryptid of Papua New Guinea
• Kongamato — African giant flying cryptid
• Ahool — Javanese giant flying cryptid
• Owlman — Cornish humanoid winged cryptid
• Garuda — Hindu/Buddhist mythological great bird

Tags

Sources

• Thunderbird (mythology) — Wikipedia
• The Mythic Child-Stealing Thunderbirds of Illinois — Atlas Obscura
• Thunderbird category — Stan Gordon's UFO Anomalies Zone
• Fossil Legends of the First Americans — Princeton University Press
• Thunderbirds! America's Living Legends of Giant Birds — Cosimo, Inc.
• Thunderbird (cryptozoology) — EBSCO Research Starters