Pūkeko, also known as the Australasian swamphen, is a long-legged New Zealand marsh bird whose chicks became the subject of a Tumblr-driven meme centered on their oversized feet starting in late 2020.

Where did Pūkeko come from?

The meme traces to a December 4, 2020 Reddit post on /r/PicsOfUnusualBirds by /u/Intellobang showing a juvenile pūkeko, which Tumblr user Cybis reposted around March 2, 2021.

What does Pūkeko mean?

Pūkeko is the Māori name for the Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), a bird native to New Zealand and parts of Australasia.

How do you use Pūkeko?

People edit baby pūkeko photos by stretching the legs further or pasting the chick onto backdrops like the Windows XP Bliss wallpaper, often adding captions such as 'DAMN!!!!!'.

Is Pūkeko still popular?

The meme stayed active into late 2024, when X user @notSIug's November 12 hatchling post drew over 130,000 likes within two days.

Pūkeko

2020image macrosemi-active

Published October 15, 2026

Pūkeko, also known as the Australasian swamphen, is a long-legged New Zealand marsh bird whose chicks have oversized feet that caught the internet's eye in late 2020. A juvenile pūkeko photo shared by Redditor /u/Intellobang on /r/PicsOfUnusualBirds moved to Tumblr the following spring, and by July 2022 users were pasting the awkward chick onto Windows XP Bliss wallpapers under the word 'DAMN!!!!!'.

animal memes tumblr memes exploitable templates subreddit origin memes body image memes

Overview

Edited versions highlight the chick's awkward silhouette, with Tumblr users stretching its legs even longer or placing the body against a flat green hill4. A notable variant by Tumblr user @neotrances put the baby bird onto the Windows XP Bliss wallpaper and topped the image with the word 'DAMN!!!!!,' turning a plain nature photo into a mock-dramatic desktop joke5.

Captions often address the pūkeko in a disappointed-parent voice, as in @onlinebeast's post reading 'Big stupid feet, and you're not presentable. Not one bit'4. The 'DAMN!!!' template later spread outside Tumblr, with Instagram user @liliumbirder sharing a version featuring the chick against a red forest fire with the text 'DAMNATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' to a private Discord in March 20236.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit / Tumblr (viral spread)

Date

2020

The earliest known video appearance of a baby pūkeko is an April 16, 2008 YouTube clip from a New Zealand energy ad that gathered over 46,000 views in sixteen years6. The meme form took shape over a decade later when Redditor /u/Intellobang posted a juvenile pūkeko to /r/PicsOfUnusualBirds on December 4, 2020, captioned 'Going through an awkward phase,' which collected over 2,000 upvotes1.

Around March 2, 2021, Tumblr user Cybis reposted the same image, and the Tumblr version gathered over 47,000 notes in the three years that followed2.

How It Spread

On September 21, 2021, Twitter user @budypals reposted the baby pūkeko photo with the caption 'StampStampStampStampStamp Hello,' drawing over 35,000 likes in three years3. Tumblr edits followed through 2022, with @onlinebeast stretching the chick's legs in a March 10 post that gathered over 16,000 notes4 and @neotrances producing the 'DAMN!!!!!' Windows XP Bliss variant on July 8 for over 9,000 notes5.

Video edits came next. On September 14, 2023, YouTuber Ploštice Kryštof uploaded a baby pūkeko clip with a muffled voice dubbed over it under the title 'Goofy ahh Kiwi,' which collected over 100,000 views in a year7. The format saw another viral push on November 12, 2024, when X user @notSIug posted a photo and video of hatchling pūkekos with the caption 'ITS FRESH OUT THE EGGS!!!' and drew over 130,000 likes within two days8.

Timeline

2008-04-16

A New Zealand energy ad featuring a baby pūkeko is uploaded to YouTube.

2020-12-04

Redditor /u/Intellobang posts a juvenile pūkeko to /r/PicsOfUnusualBirds, drawing over 2,000 upvotes.

2024-11-12

X user @notSIug posts 'ITS FRESH OUT THE EGGS!!!' with hatchling pūkeko footage, drawing over 130,000 likes.

How to Use This Meme

Typical pūkeko edits start with a photo of a juvenile bird, which is already comically proportioned, and either exaggerate the legs further or set the chick against a familiar backdrop such as the Windows XP Bliss hills5. Captions often use short, punctuation-heavy exclamations like 'DAMN!!!' or scolding one-liners that address the bird directly4.