World's Largest, Most Fearsome Bird

Atlanta, Georgia

Sports teams hope their angry-looking mascots strike terror in the hearts of their opponents. Some mascots are better at this than others, although modern mascot statues indicate that the ratio of rage may be steadily rising.

That's why when someone decided that the World's Largest Bird had to be erected outside the new home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons, it also had to be the World's Most Fearsome Bird. It was finally completed in June 2017, after nearly two years of work.

For size reference, the bird's eyeballs are bigger than basketballs.

Created by 32-year-old Hungarian sculptor Gabor Miklos Szoke, the falcon could easily crush an entire rival team with its talons, or ginsu them to meat ribbons with one flap of its stainless steel feather blades -- and then carry off their brood sac for post-game noshing.

With a wingspan of 70 feet, the behemoth is a feat of engineering as well as art, clutching a football that could hold 3,000 regular footballs. The entire sculpture weighs nearly 37 tons, and had to be built atop a secret, hidden column to keep the bird from collapsing through its surrounding elevated plaza.

Gabor's bio says that he is, "Inspired by the power and dynamism of wildlife, monsters, and demons," and that he has a Doberman named Dante (presumably of The Inferno). Berta Hauer, Gabor's partner, told us that he has no bloodcurdling nickname for his mecha-bird. It's simply, "the largest free-standing bird sculpture in the world."