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Is This a Pigeon? Meme
Is This a Pigeon? is the anime screenshot of a man pointing at a butterfly and asking if it's a pigeon, used to mock someone completely misidentifying something. On this page you can fill in all three labels and download the meme free, in your browser.
What does the Is This a Pigeon? meme mean?
The format pokes fun at someone confidently getting something completely wrong. There are three labels: the man is the person or group doing the misidentifying, the butterfly is the thing they're looking at, and the question at the bottom is their wrong conclusion, written as “Is this a ___?” The bigger the gap between the butterfly label and the guess, the funnier it gets. It's often used for beginners overestimating themselves, pets misreading the world, or anyone who sees what they want to see.
Where is the Is This a Pigeon? meme from?
The screenshot comes from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, a Japanese anime that premiered in February 1991. In the third episode, Yutaro Katori, an android created by Professor Hiroshi Amano, mistakes a butterfly for a pigeon while studying nature. The English-subtitled frame was posted on Tumblr on December 6, 2011, and became a long-running joke reply to butterfly photos. In 2018 it took off again as a labelled format: people wrote text over the man, the butterfly, and the question to mock misunderstandings, and brands like Netflix joined in that May. Fansubber Kara Dennison later explained the scene's backstory.
Is This a Pigeon? meme caption ideas
- Man: My grandpa / Butterfly: Any tablet / Caption: Is this a TV?
- Man: Me after one week of guitar / Butterfly: Three chords / Caption: Is this a world tour?
- Man: My dog / Butterfly: The vacuum / Caption: Is this a monster?
- Man: Me at 6 a.m. / Butterfly: My alarm / Caption: Is this a suggestion?
- Man: New gardeners / Butterfly: One sprout / Caption: Is this a farm?
Tips
- Fill in all three labels. The format falls apart if the man, the butterfly, or the question is missing.
- Keep the bottom caption in the “Is this a ___?” form so it's instantly recognizable.
- Drag the butterfly label so it sits right beside the butterfly in the upper right; it makes the joke readable at a glance.
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Frequently asked questions
What anime is “Is this a pigeon?” from?
It's from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, a Japanese anime that premiered in 1991. The scene is in the third episode.
Who is the man in the Is This a Pigeon meme?
He's Yutaro Katori, an android character in Fighbird who mistakes a butterfly for a pigeon.
How do you label the Is This a Pigeon meme?
Label the man as who's confused, the butterfly as the thing being looked at, and write the wrong guess as “Is this a ___?” at the bottom.
Sources: knowyourmeme.com
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