birds

Talk about a bird’s eye view.

Darshan the white-tailed eagle made history on Saturday breaking the world record for the highest bird flight off a man-made structure.

A group called the Freedom Conservation strapped a Sony ActionCam Mini him and captured his 2,722-foot descent off the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to help raise awareness about the endangered species.

The charity works in partnership with both SOS (Save our Species) and UNESCO, and the stunt was also broadcast live on BBC News.

“I’m really proud of the bird,” his trainer, Jacques-Olivier Travers told Khaleej Times. “Today was really perfect. I really think that anyone who saw these shots will never think of eagles again in the same way.”

This wasn’t the first time Darshan has soared off a tall building. He’s also flown from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

What a beautiful, lovely time to be alive.

The cacophonous, heavy thrash you hear above is Hatebeak, and yes all of those vocal samples come from a African Gray Parrot named Waldo. Waldo's retainers have a pretty extensive metal pedigree, being members and collaborators in thrash band Pig Destroyer. Just how metal are they?



This gosh-dang metal.

Metal fans will recognize all the cheeky references to other bands (Morbid Angel, Judas Priest) within Hatebeak's song and album titles - as if the blatant Iron Maiden reference in the title above weren't a hint already.

In other news, I'm starting a band with a wild boar called Deathtusk and our album "Ham or Fall" will come out next winter. Get ready!