Frogmouth Known as World's Most Unfortunate Looking Bird, Declared Most Instagrammable

Who would have thought that the winner for the most Instagrammable bird would be the unlikely frogmouth bird? Its wide, emotive eyes helped the bird secure the title as it received the most number of "likes" on Instagram.

Two German scientists from the University Hospital Jena in Germany conducted a study that aimed to see which bird species reigned supreme on Instagram.

The study, entitled "Why people press "like": A new measure for aesthetic appeal derived from Instagram data," published by German researchers Dr. Katja Thömmes and Dr. Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring in APA PsycNet, analyzed almost 30,000 bird photos from nine popular avian photography Instagram accounts.

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FITZROY FALLS, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 28: A rescued tawny frogmouth recovers at the Higher Ground Raptor Center on January 28, 2020, in Fitzroy Falls, Australia. The center specializes in rehabilitating wounded and sick birds of prey, many of which resulting from the current bushfire and drought crisis. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

The Most Instagrammable Bird

According to The Guardian via MSN, the researchers used an algorithm to analyze the thousands of bird photos to record which of them attracted the most number of "likes" on Instagram.

The summary of the study suggests that their aim is simple. That is to identify what makes a great bird photo.

When their study revealed that frogmouth is the most Instagrammable bird, researchers were surprised, even though the bird won second place in 2019.

These birds are often mistaken as owls because they share a little of their majestic grace. However, frogmouth birds have piercing yellow eyes and a wide, hooked beak that gives it their name.

Its scientific name, Podargus strigoides, is a combination of strigoides (meaning owl-like) and podargus (Greek word for gout). Experts said that the Podargus name is because the frogmouth walks like a gout-ridden man.

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Why Did Frogmouth Won?

The algorithm that Thömmes developed gave every photo an Image Aesthetic Appeal score which the frogmouth came on top out of thousand of birds.

"The surprising winner in this ranking is the frogmouth, which seems to be a matter of poetic justice, as this nocturnal bird with very distinct facial features was once designated 'the world's most unfortunate-looking bird'," the authors wrote.

Thömmes told the New York Times that the frogmouth brings the surprise factor as it does not look like any other bird, especially with its "anthropomorphic facial features." But admitted that she has grown fond of the bird.

The ranking by the IAA showed that it is not necessarily tied to the beauty of the depicted bird, the researchers said. Perhaps interestingness, idiosyncrasy, and the situational context might have played a role in the aesthetic appeal of the bird.

The IAA score works by taking the absolute number of "likes" in the photo-sharing app and then factoring the size of the account, and when it was posted, MSN reported.

Then an "expected number of likes is produced by the algorithm. These are the numbers that the post "should" receive and scores it based on the percentage of the post received.

Other bird species who also topped the rankings were a couple of colorful pigeons, such as the emerald turaco, hoopoe, and fairywren. While down to the bottom were the sandpiper and the oystercatcher, as well as the storks and vultures.