The Twitter Bird Has A Name

World, meet Larry.

While most of us have (unfortunately) become well-acquainted with Twitter's "Fail Whale," it's likely we aren't on a first-name basis with the site's official mascot, Larry the bird.

The little guy may have been named after former NBA player, Larry Bird, who played for Twitter co-founder Biz Stone's home-state team, the Boston Celtics.

Ryan Sarver, product manager for Twitter's Platform/API team, mentioned Larry's name in a tweet on February 27. The tweet featured a picture of Twitter's creative director Douglas Bowman speaking about Larry the bird's evolution since the site was founded in 2006.

.@stop going over Design @ Twitter. The evolution of the Larry the Bird logo twitter.com/rsarver/status…

— Ryan Sarver (@rsarver) February 27, 2012

While this latest name-drop is getting some attention, this isn't the first time it's been mentioned or noticed.

AllTwitter reported Larry's name in August of last year after catching a March 2 tweet by Twitter corporate responsibility manager @jennadawn.

One Twitter shortcut released with the site's latest redesign in December is a slight nod to the bird. Twitter wrote on its blog on February 16, "You can quickly close all expanded Tweets by pressing 'L' (as in Larry) on your keyboard."

Now, the world finally knows Larry's name, though his species is yet to be determined. WebProNews' Samuel Arbesman tried to find out by tweeting at Sarver -- but, alas, to no avail.

@arbesman @mathewi that's a secret :)

— Ryan Sarver (@rsarver) February 27, 2012

[hat tip, Business Insider]

Comments

[RTRHYMES]

01:35 PM on 03/02/2012

500m users is a lot of weight to carry, for a bird named larry.

[Isac C]

02:17 PM on 02/29/2012

I thought it was "Tweety"

[Wheels17]

01:55 PM on 02/29/2012

Larry's species name should be LarryBirdusTwitterus.

[tori griffith]

07:21 AM on 02/29/2012

Hi Larry Nice To Meet You!

[Counterglow]

01:07 AM on 02/29/2012

I didn't know it actually had a name. I think I had the species nailed down, though: it's a "shallow".

[tyrant510]

05:34 AM on 02/29/2012

i've always preferred the swallow.

[Lionfisile]

05:22 PM on 02/28/2012

To me it's more like Larry "Who Gives A PHORQUE" Bird.

[susanbsbi]

05:19 PM on 02/28/2012

Good choice, I liked seeing Larry Bird play in his days.

[Saif Quadri]

01:07 PM on 02/28/2012

"This isn't the first time Larry's name from Twitter name-dropped about Larry. mention is getting some attention, this isn't the first time Larry's name has been dropped or noticed." < Am I the only one who thinks this sentence is messed up?