The New York TimesThe New York Times

Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory.

By Taylor Lorenz

09 Dec 2021 · 6 min read

In Pittsburgh; Memphis, Tennessee; and Los Angeles, massive billboards recently popped up declaring, “Birds Aren’t Real.”

On Instagram and TikTok, Birds Aren’t Real accounts have racked up hundreds of thousands of followers, and YouTube videos about it have gone viral.

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