Real video of a snowy owl carrying her chicks on her back?

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The video authentically shows a snowy owl carrying its chicks on its back.

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A video posted on social media in October 2024 allegedly showed the flight of a female snowy owl and her chicks.

Post on Threads shared a video and said, “Mother snowy owl flying with her babies on her back… .” AND YouTube An account with 1.7 million subscribers also shared the video.

One user on Threads reacted“Wow, I’ve never seen baby chicks flying on their mother’s back.” Indeed, this is likely because the video was fake and created using generative artificial intelligence.

The origin of the post it seems come from an Instagram account that has 2.2 million followers true nature, lovealthough the account holder did not respond to Snopes requesting confirmation. However, the account is full of videos and photos that were clearly taken using artificial intelligence, including other short videos owl chicks riding on their mothers defense.

Some users believed the video was authentic, saying: “I never knew they put their babies on their backs to fly. Incredible”. However, the most comments on Instagram indicated that the video was created using artificial intelligence.

Wildlife photographer Photo by Tanja Brandt-Tier he commented on the post with a series of facepalms emoticons and told Snopes, “Yes, it’s fake. I wonder why people can’t see.”

Another user said: “I think this is misinformation about nature, which most people don’t know enough about anymore. Owls do not carry their young on their backs while flying. They nest them.”

(Getty Images)

According to Peregryn Fundnon-profit organization dedicated to bird conservation victim, like owls:

Snowy owls nest on the ground, so it is much easier for the young to leave the nest because they do not have to fly to do so. They usually start leaving the nest at the age of 3-4 weeks, but they do not master the art of flying until they are about 8 weeks old.

The parents will care for the young for about 4 months, until the young owls can hunt and survive on their own. After two years, the young will be old enough to find a mate, settle down and raise their young on their own.

Additionally, snowy owl chicks are typically gray until about 2 months of age, when they are ready to fly on their own, the study found. Owl Research Institute. A representative from the institute called the video “clearly false” and pointed Snopes to a resource showing it snowy owl development stages. They also said the team leader Cornell Ornithological LaboratoryDenver Holt, author of an account of the snowy owl species, “has never seen or heard of snowy owls carrying their young on their backs.”

Therefore, the color, size and behavior of the owls in the video in question If inconsistent with real snowy owls, confirming its origin as an AI-generated video.

Moreover, the video is tagged as AI on Instagram fasting, and an AI-generated content detection platform Hive moderation reported that the probability of a given video being fake is 99.1%.

(Beehive Moderation)

Snopes has debunked similar videos featuring AI-generated animals, including: little peacockAND giant Maine Coon catand an exceptionally large white rabbit.