Seagull Becomes Internet Sensation After Casually Riding On Another Seagull's Back In Viral Clip

Although the ever-recognizable seagull doesn't get nearly as much internet love as cats and dogs, it's always a spectacle when that gray-white squawker does manage to snag the limelight.

Perhaps you remember a few years ago when one seagull grew curious about a traffic camera and put its own head front and center, prompting an onslaught of memes.

Or maybe you came across a more recent controversial TikTok moment that featured a late night french fry eater being grabbed out of midair by a drunk New Zealander.

But even if you missed those, another recent seagull clip is sure to fascinate.

Posted by Twitter user @buitengebieden_, the 9-second video showed as one seagull hopped on the back of another, apparently to catch a ride while the other put all the hard flying effort in.

The clip, which has been viewed by nearly three million people, was made all the more majestic by the high winds involved. The piggybacked birds, flying against the gust, seemed to hover stationary in the air, as if to show off for the camera.

The video prompted a slew of various responses from viewers on Twitter.

Others offered more of a knee jerk response.

Some even offered a common hypothesis for what was actually going on here.

Their hunch this might be midair mating wasn't so far-fetched.

As Indy 100 pointed out, in 2016 when a viral photo showed one seagull standing on top of another seagull's back, Mashable asked the Australian Museum's principal terrestrial research scientist, Richard Major, to share a possible explanation.

He said:

"They don't look too enthusiastic, but it's hard to tell what happens next from a still. It is most likely to be a preliminary to copulation or an attempt at such."

So while we can't know exactly what was going on between those seagulls up in the air, one thing is clear.

The internet was a huge fan of the aerial maneuver.