There are a variety of monster around the world that we are all aware of; The Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are excellent example. Most New Englanders rest easy at night knowing that these creatures, if real, are lurking in regions far from their homes. Unfortunately, as these people go about their business feeling safe and secure a native fiend wanders about in the mountains and forest of the northeast
Far before the area was colonized, a fearsome being known as the Thunderbird terrified the Algonquin speaking peoples of New England. Though it was more closely associated with the plains Indians, the Thunderbird was believed to have roamed the territory.
Little is know of this fiendish spirit. Only vague references and a few images were found during my investigation. A sketch of an Indian artifact from the book ‘The New’ by C. Keith Wilbur, gives you an idea of what they had seen. From what can be gathered, the thunderbird was approximately the shape and size of a large man. Instead of arms, it has large wings with a span of over twice its height. The head is relatively small for its size for it body and I could find little on the details of its face. This maybe due to the fact that it caused so much fear in the Indians that they would run and hide. Though the Thunderbird didn’t hunt the Indians, occasionally it was know to have killed humans. When attacking a victim it was said to swoop down with the speed and rage of a giant falcon.
The last sightings of the Thunderbird were around the turn of the 16th century in Pennacook New Hampshire. The memory of this beast has faded only to linger in tales and art. But who knows, maybe it reserves its activities to the backwoods of New England like any wild animal. This fiend may watch as man unknowingly crosses its path. At any moment a lone hiker maybe its next victim as it protects its shrinking domain.
~ Strange New England
UPDATE: 06/08/03
While following up on some leads on story in Ma., I discovered some reports of a strange bird creature sighted in the area. In 1971, what looked like a prehistoric bird with a wing span of 8 -12 feet was sighted at a place called Taunton Bird Hill. Again in 1992 a bird with the wing span of 10-12 feet was sighted in Taunton. It was described by one witness as, ‘looking like a man with wings.’
Though the detail were vague, one could imagine that this is the same creature the Indians and colonists had report.
~Strange NE
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Pterodactyl in Connecticut
Editor,
When I saw this article, a chill came back over me. A friend and I saw something like this many years ago traveling on Route 55 from New Milford, CT to Poughkeepsie, NY. It is a rural and mountainous road that is very secluded in some parts. One late night around 11PM while traveling westbound in a semi-secluded area, we saw a large flying creature across the road, nearly over the vehicle. It startled both of us and I hesitated to ask my friend who was driving to describe it. After a few moments, I asked him to what he saw, making sure I did not offer any description. He described the same thing to me as well. We both described a Pterodactyl looking creature with an approximate wing span of 10 feet. We were booth somewhat shaken from the experience and love to tell the story.
-Charles
Posted in Monsters, Cryptids & Ghouls and tagged creature, cryptid creatures, cryptids, folklore, Legend, Monster, monster legends, mythical creatures, strange new england, Thunderbirdwith 13 comments.
Has anyone heard creatures or should I say animals in the Maine which sounds like aliens? We live in Maine, near Ogunquit and have heard this often at night. Our neighbors say its a bird of some type but nobody has actually seen it as it is dark.
We haven’t heard about these animal sounds yet. If someone could get a recording, I have some people familiar with Maine animals that could listen to it and give their opinion.
Could you describe the sound?
Raccoons make some really bizarre sounds, as do bobcats when fighting. The racoon though has several totally different sounds that are really eerie sounding.
Saw a thunderbird-pterodactyl driving up through Caratunk, Maine back in 1993. I thought it was a massive glider made to look like a pterodactyl with ten feet of wing on either side of the body. I dismissed that thought in exchange for I JUST REALLY SAW THAT when the wings came down in a ponderous flap.
That sounds exciting but a bit scary. I’ve seen some birds in New England with very large wingspans, but recognized them immediately. I think the largest I’ve seen was the Bald Eagle in central Connecticut, with up to a 7.5 ft wingspan. I was frightened for a moment as I suddenly noticed it close to the treeline & heading my way. The fear passed quickly though as I recognized it & realized it was just fishing in the river nearby.
I was at my home ( at that time ) in So. Vermont, 1/4 mile from MA border. It was February 1997 during the early afternoon. I was looking at the sky and I saw two HUGE birds – just huge – in the sky. I watched them for perhaps 20 – 30 seconds and then they flew out of my line of sight. Their size was enormous. This incident has stayed with me since and I have shared it with just a few family members.
Thanks for sharing your story. Its moments like that when you wish you had a camera handy.
~Michael
Believe I just saw one in Worcester MA, 6-8ft wingspan. looked like no other native raptorial bird.
Turkey vultures are large and can often be mistaken as being larger than they actually are.
March 8th in the small town of Farmington in south eastern NH. My mother, avid outdoors woman, hiker and nature lover who’s seen her share if wildlife, shared the strange sighting she had just hours earlier. Approximately 7am. We live on two acres in a wooded area and have a small farm pond with a fair amount of open sky above. This is the view from her bedroom looking out three, floor to ceiling windows. She saw two birds in which she couldn’t believe the size. At first glance she thought a small glider was above. There were two dark in color, shaped like hawks, with a wing span at least 15 ft, that circled the area above the pond several times and disappeared over the trees. We have everything from wild turkey (which don’t soar), to larger turkey vultures, and they were not that. This morning happened to follow a night of very high winds and rain. She had never heard of Thunderbirds before. We began searching for more info after this incident. S. Sawyer.
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for sharing your story. I have heard others share stories like that too. As to what your mother and others have witnessed, we may never know.
~Michael
*this happened on February 13,2023*
(I posted this in “the bridgewater triangle group on Facebook)
“I’ve never put much thought into the claims of giant birds here until one just flew over my head while my dog was doing her business. (At 3:30 am)I’ve seen eagles, turkey vultures and owls but this looked much much bigger. and it was flying pretty fast. It’s got me curious about those legends now”.
Enjoy digging into the lore of the Thunderbird!