What is the new Twitter bird logo's species?

Question

Doug Bowman · Accepted Answer

Throughout the process, we discussed references to hummingbirds. But the final iteration is closer to a mountain bluebird.

Daniel Waldron · Answer

I believe these are the different iterations along the years.

Andre Legris · Answer

A Mynah Bird. It makes a lot of noise for no reason, imitates those around it without changing its tune or sounding any nicer, and generally makes a mess wherever it goes.

Madhuri Sen · Answer

I would have guessed it's a sparrow, canary or robin. All of them have that sort of generic shape. But wiki states that "According to Douglas Bowman, designer of Twitter, the new logo resembles a Mountain Bluebird.". which has a similar shape to the other better recognized (by most) birds.

Viola Yee · Answer

Looks like a cross between a sparrow and a swallow.  Maybe a bluebird.  The head is too big to be a real bird.

Rene Pot · Answer

The word “twitter” is older than the website. In fact, the word is older than you and me. The definition of the word twitter according to the oxford dictionary

%3E (of a bird) give a call consisting of repeated light tremulous sounds.

‘sparrows twittered under the eaves’

‘the swallows were settling to roost with a good deal of twittering’
As you can see. Thats where the reference to a bird comes from.

As for what bird, it is supposed to look like a Mountain Bluebird

Mark Chackerian · Answer

I just happen to be reading Biz Stone's book "Things a Little Bird Told Me" at the moment.  He started Twitter with Jack Dorsey as a side project at a company called Odeo. Here's an excerpt of what he said about picking the name Twitter, and how it was related to birds from the very beginning:

%3E "We want a name that feels quick and urgent," one of  us said...The name had to capture the idea that your phone would buzz .. with simple updates from friends right now.  Noah had come up with a short list of twitchy words.  
"How about Jitter?"  Noah said.  
"It's a little overcaffeinated, don't you think?" I said  
"Or Flitter, or Twitter, or Skitter," Noah was on his computer now, looking up words that rhymed with Jitter.  
"Twitter," I repeated enthusiastically.  It made me think of the light sounds of birds chirping.

Noah in this passage is Noah Glass, co-founder of Odeo.

Matt Cauble · Answer

Get it? 
Biz is from the Boston area...

Anonymous · Answer

The official post doesn't explain the "why", but there are some clear signals to read.

The simplest explanation is probably the correct one: Twitter updated their logo as part of a proactive march towards ubiquity. Evan Williams compares tweets to water — small enough to flood into everything, everywhere. Being a global brand is plainly Twitter's goal, and this is one step along the path.

First, the change to lose the word "Twitter" in all official branding actually came before this, with the release of the "New New Twitter" redesign in December. Doug Bowman has stated that this move has been years in the making:

%3E Oh, and on no words, we've been planning this for nearly 2 years now. But it took the word/bird lockup time to gain familiarity.
— Doug Bowman, https://twitter.com/stop/status/210754801934405633

Clearly the company feels they have arrived at this lockup, as made explicit in the announcement post:

%3E Twitter is the bird, the bird is Twitter.
— Doug Bowman, http://blog.twitter.com/2012/06/taking-flight-twitterbird.html

So, what makes this bird more suited to ubiquity than the previous one? Three details:

Simple. Fewer and larger details gives the logo a more iconic feel. It will grow, shrink, and support a variety of treatments more easily than the old logo. In practice it shrinks rather poorly, but I think tailored renderings will correct this over time.

Neutral. The new bird is much less cartoony. If Twitter wants to be a communication platform as universal as email or the telephone, then a toneless logo makes sense. It's hard to imagine that tuft of hair suiting, say, AT&T.

Square. This might seem trivial, but logos that adhere to square dimensions tend to be much more flexible in application. Consider app icons, avatars, share buttons, just to name a few.

%3E I love simplifying something down to a base essence.
— Jack Dorsey, http://allthingsd.com/20111019/jack-dorsey-on-steve-jobs/

The three circle constraint is nonsense, but revealing. Many have admired Apple's adherence to strict, simple forms. And it's well known that Jack Dorsey admires Steve Jobs (describing him as a "mentor from afar"). A popular graphic showed that the Apple logo is constructed with overlapping golden ratio circles. It wouldn't be a surprise to learn that Jack is aware of this (specious) fact.

Any good designer will tell you constraints like these can help while you're trying ideas, but useless to anyone viewing the work. But, by sharing this information in a public announcement, Twitter asserts itself as a design-led, post-Jobs organization. In many ways, the audience for the rationale was Twitter itself.

Apple spent many years earning the ability to lean on an unadorned logo, and the last major change — losing the rainbow stripes — happened slowly, with no announcement or fanfare. It remains to be seen whether Twitter is taking the right cue, and if such a new company can force their way into universal recognition.

Anonymous · Answer

I was one of the first twenty employees at Twitter. The reason we chose the bird as our mascot is because birds "tweet", and were therefore "tweeters", but I believe tweeter.com was taken, so we settled for Twitter.com

Stephen Carlson · Answer

This tweet from Twitter refers to him as Larry: https://twitter.com/#!/twitter/status/42750940343828481

Anonymous · Answer

The video in your link has been marked as PRIVATE !… Nobody can see it !

Video unavailable

This video is private.

Santosh Thoudam · Answer

Named after Larry Bird from the NBA's Boston Celtics, Twitter's 'Larry the Bird'logo had a slightly more intricate plumage, plus another wing in the background. ... Twitter designer Douglas Bowman revealed that theTwitter Bird is based on a mountain bluebird, and that the wings are made up of three overlapping circles.

Anthony Brown · Answer

Special thanks to Jessica Zollman [ https://www.quora.com/profile/Jessica-Zollman ] for the tweet that led to this:
https://twitter.com/jayzombie/status/210518209315602432

Based on its beak and body dimensions, the bird appears to be a passerine.  Although, with only three primary wing feathers, as well as head/body proportions, it is clearly flightless (despite what its stance is alluding to).

There are no living flightless passerines, although a few extinct species have been described:

Stephens Island Wren:

Long-legged Bunting, similar to this Yellowhammer:

Nick Bhardwaj · Answer

Yes! I believe his name is Larry.

When you look at the resources on the Twitter Client for Mac, you are allowed to change default dock & menu icons. Under the alternative menu files, this little gem comes up:

Each of the menu icons is preceded with the name Larry which I believe corresponds to the name of the Twitter bird. Huzzah!

Unfortunately there is no official response from Twitter as they only refer to the character as the "Twitter Blue Bird." But this would be my best educated guess.

Hope this sheds some light on your question.

Somnath Mukherjee · Answer

The cute bird you see on the Twitter app is called the Twitter bird or logo. It's that light blue bird flying high in the app's icon. This bird represents Twitter's spirit: being free, quick, and letting people connect and share ideas instantly.

You can spot this bird almost everywhere associated with Twitter, from its app icon to ads and posters. It's a symbol of communication and togetherness in today's digital world, recognized globally for its simplicity and meaning.

So, next time you open Twitter, remember, that little bird isn't just a bird—it's a symbol of the platform's mission to bring people closer through conversations and sharing.

Priyanshu Joshi · Answer

I dont know, but i can make gusses.

Maybe the flying bird, symobilize as massenger. A carrier, whose work is to trasport messages from peer to peer. As Twitter also do the same, people twit and it reaches to millions of people simultaneously.

Adam Brower · Answer

Those who lack acquaintance with simple English words will understand neither the logo nor the name.

I suggest that you consult any English dictionary, e.g.:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twitter

Neo · Answer

According to a tweet by co-founder Biz Stone [ https://twitter.com/biz ], it is called Larry the Bird as a tribute to NBA player Larry Bird, who played for the Boston Celtics, Stone's home-state team. The name was revealed in a tweet by the company's official handle, in 2011.

Creators Unique · Answer

Twitter's logo, a robin's egg blue bird has remained synonymous with the platform name and recognizable to most anyone whom has ever seen a Tweet. However, many might not be aware that this bird actually has a name, and a story behind the name.