Photoshopped Or Real?

[Clydeside_Sheep]

You may have seen this in the media, a photo of a weasel riding on the back of a kingfisher in flight:

 

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/561592/Weasel-rides-woodpecker-back-photograph-Martin-Le-May

 

Photoshopped or real?

 

I think its a fake, but its an awesome pic either way! The bird eye seems to be wide with shock, but that might also be down to it being a plastic kingfisher. The sizes of the two animals dont look right in comparison?!?

 

Could someone do an analysis involving the comparable weights/sizes of kingfishers and weasels, as well as how having a weasel on its back affects the aerodynamics of a kingfisher, to see if this is even possible?

[looksgoodinred]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150303-weasels-woodpeckers-animals-science-weaselpecker-photos/

Is the Photo Real?

As the viral video of the pig rescuing the baby goat taught us, just because something is cute doesn't mean it's real. But is the photo now known on Twitter as #WeaselPecker a fake?

Hany Farid doesn't think so. Farid is a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, who researches digital forensics and image analysis.

Farid said that while the image's low resolution makes performing a detailed analysis difficult, there are several other factors to consider. For starters, because the weasel is virtually hugging the woodpecker, forging such an image would be extremely challenging.

"This would have required a nearly perfect and coincidental alignment of the two animals in their original photos so that they could be composited together," said Farid. "This type of forgery is therefore more difficult to create than, for example, two animals simply standing side-by-side."

The fact that Le-May has posted several other photos of the scene is another indicator that the images are probably real, because it would be even more problematic to consistently alter two or more photos.

Finally, Farid said there doesn't seem to be any obvious lighting, color, focus, or quality differences between the weasel and the bird.

"Combined, I don't see any evidence that the photo is not real," he said.

Least Weasel in Flight, Afternoon Delight

If the image isn't a forgery, then what circumstances might have led to a weasel and woodpecker recreating the story of the scorpion and the tortoise?

"While it looks like a bizarre event, it's really not all that surprising if you know a little bit about these two species," said David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, in Virginia.

Mizejewski said European green woodpeckers feed on ants, which means they spend a lot of time on the ground. This type of foraging behavior makes the birds vulnerable to attack from predators—in this case, a hungry weasel.

Least weasels are carnivores, and while they typically take down mice and voles, these tiny predators have also been known to prey upon animals much larger than themselves, including rabbits, frogs, and birds. (Watch a clip from "The Secret Life of Predators.")

"The least weasel's signature move is to sever the spinal cord of its prey with a bite to the neck, which is exactly what we're seeing in the photo," said Mizejewski.

While the photo itself is amazing, Mizejewski said the truly wonderful thing is that the Le-May was there to document it.

"The natural world is filled with wonders," said Mizejewski, "and we have the chance of observing them firsthand if we get outside to experience them."

[dave_min]

Care Factor = 0

[Scrumpy]

It is real. The weasel would have been shitting itself though when the kingfisher took off.

[The Boofon]

You may have seen this in the media, a photo of a weasel riding on the back of a kingfisher in flight:

 

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/561592/Weasel-rides-woodpecker-back-photograph-Martin-Le-May

 

Photoshopped or real?

 

I think its a fake, but its an awesome pic either way! The bird eye seems to be wide with shock, but that might also be down to it being a plastic kingfisher. The sizes of the two animals dont look right in comparison?!?

 

Could someone do an analysis involving the comparable weights/sizes of kingfishers and weasels, as well as how having a weasel on its back affects the aerodynamics of a kingfisher, to see if this is even possible?

I could but it would be pointless as the bird is a woodpecker not a kingfisher.

[Ke1t]

Faxe, I can tell because of the arrangement of pixels.

[looksgoodinred]

Faxe, I can tell because of the arrangement of pixels.

 

hmm.

 

Farid is a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, who researches digital forensics and image analysis. Farid said that while the image's low resolution makes performing a detailed analysis difficult, there are several other factors to consider. For starters, because the weasel is virtually hugging the woodpecker, forging such an image would be extremely challenging.

"This would have required a nearly perfect and coincidental alignment of the two animals in their original photos so that they could be composited together," said Farid. "This type of forgery is therefore more difficult to create than, for example, two animals simply standing side-by-side." The fact that Le-May has posted several other photos of the scene is another indicator that the images are probably real, because it would be even more problematic to consistently alter two or more photos. Finally, Farid said there doesn't seem to be any obvious lighting, color, focus, or quality differences between the weasel and the bird.

[Ke1t]

 

hmm.

 

Farid is a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, who researches digital forensics and image analysis. Farid said that while the image's low resolution makes performing a detailed analysis difficult, there are several other factors to consider. For starters, because the weasel is virtually hugging the woodpecker, forging such an image would be extremely challenging.

"This would have required a nearly perfect and coincidental alignment of the two animals in their original photos so that they could be composited together," said Farid. "This type of forgery is therefore more difficult to create than, for example, two animals simply standing side-by-side." The fact that Le-May has posted several other photos of the scene is another indicator that the images are probably real, because it would be even more problematic to consistently alter two or more photos. Finally, Farid said there doesn't seem to be any obvious lighting, color, focus, or quality differences between the weasel and the bird.

 

 

Fuck that guy... I have a degree in computer science inna, and I say fake.

 

How many times has he photoshopped, say, your head onto a nude image of Samantha Fox and fapped to the near pixel-perfect result?

 

Exactly.. never.

 

I'm not saying I did that either, but I've got mad photoshop skillz, so if I wanted to I could.

 

So who are you going to believe?

[Clydeside_Sheep]

Care Factor = 0

 

At a weasel riding on a bird, in flight?

 

Tough crowd!

 

What about a tiger surfing on a dolphin?

[Clydeside_Sheep]

I could but it would be pointless as the bird is a woodpecker not a kingfisher.

 

Thank you! (I am glad I didn't go on to talk about the time I saw a kingfisher )

[rumpus]

There was another today of a koala bear resting inside a crocodile's mouth.

 

Some computer geek somewhere's being a smartypants.

[granite sheep]

[Bluto10]

There was another today of a koala bear resting inside a crocodile's mouth.

Some computer geek somewhere's being a smartypants.

Harcus?

[elephantstone78]

Female Weasels are as ferocious as Lions

One expert said today.

The wee note at the bottom of your posts is especially apt for this thread.

I say real. No fake. I don't know in other words.

[The Boofon]

Anyone else think the woodpecker is a stoater?

[Ke1t]

Anyone else think the woodpecker is a stoater?

 

You seem to be having inappropriate feelings ferret.

[The Boofon]

You seem to be having inappropriate feelings ferret.

 

That would be very minky.

[The Boofon]

Jamie Buchan's dad asked the photographer what type of tree the woodpecker was in.

 

"Pine Martin" came the reply.

[Clydeside_Sheep]

haha i still find that birds facial expression hilarious, every time i see it

Its expression and posture remind me of the large plastic Pteranodon which used to hang from the ceiling of Kelvingrove art gallery, when I was a child.

 

(It might have been a pterodactyl actually - i get them mixed up, just like woodpeckers and kingfishers)

[The Boofon]

Its expression and posture remind me of the large plastic Pteranodon which used to hang from the ceiling of Kelvingrove art gallery, when I was a child.

 

(It might have been a pterodactyl actually - i get them mixed up, just like woodpeckers and kingfishers)

 

 

Now this isn't you being all controversial and speaking about dinosaurs and their existence is it?

[Clydeside_Sheep]

Now this isn't you being all controversial and speaking about dinosaurs and their existence is it?

Not at all, I am just glad to have spelled their names properly (I think).

[The Boofon]

Not at all, I am just glad to have spelled their names properly (I think).

Do you believe in them?