AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The 'Is this a pigeon?' meme features a still image of a humanoid character from the Japanese anime series 'The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird.' In the image, the character is shown making a puzzled expression while looking at a butterfly, yet the caption misidentifies the insect as a pigeon. This scene and caption are frequently used online to depict situations of significant misunderstanding or confusion.

OriginWho did it first?

This meme originates from a scene in Season 1, Episode 3 of the anime 'The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird,' which aired in Japan in February 1991. In this particular scene, the character Yutaro Katori, a human-like android, erroneously identifies a butterfly as a pigeon while exploring elements of Earth's nature. His confusion extends to other plants in the series as well, mistaking one type of plant family for another. The moment captured in the meme is from a direct translation of the Japanese dialogue, not a transcription error. The anime scene can be viewed in full here.^[1]

Origin: 1991