Birds Are Taking Over the World, One GoPro at a Time

Compared to humans, birds may actually be better amateur cameramen.

Here’s a tip for filmmakers looking for a new perspective: Lend your camera out to a bird. This incredible video was shot by a gull in Spain’s northern Cíes Islands. The clever bird borrowed a GoPro, just for a minute, but based on the shouts in the background, it didn’t ask for permission.

Whether this bold gull was driven by artistic hunger or actual hunger, the result is pretty fantastic.

It’s also not the only camera thief in the YouTube universe. Back in 2011, a gull stole a GoPro in Cannes, recording a dark but breathtaking view of the French Riviera. Then, like a typical San Franciscan, a gull in the Bay area tried to one up the Cannes clip by filming the sunset over Golden Gate Park. It was so perfectly timed that people got suspicious; GoPro eventually had to release a statement denying any involvement in the production. By 2013, other species got in on the action, with a sea eagle snatching up a camera meant for monitoring crocodiles in Australia and a Striated Caracara chasing after a slippery penguin-egg cam in the Falkland Islands.

The Spanish cliff dive has already garnered 3 million views on YouTube. But it probably won’t be long before it gets knocked off by another budding Spiel-bird. Fame sure is fleeting.