7 Perfect Far Side Comics Starring Pet Birds

Published Sep 23, 2026, 12:18 PM EDT

Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.

The Far Side was always wild, but many of its funniest jokes were about domesticated animals. Cows and chickens are all over The Far Side. Everybody knows that, but pet dogs were also essential to Gary Larson's cartoon. Same goes for cats. And don't forget about pet birds.

This list sure doesn't. Below is a curated selection of unforgettable Far Side cartoons about pet birds. The kind that readers will keep thinking about long after looking at them.

What makes a perfect Far Side comic? The truth is, the answer is a mix of "know it when you see it" and a precise science. There was a formula to The Far Side, and readers who have spent a fair share of time pouring over Larson's comics will be able to recognize that equation at play.

A perfect Far Side cartoon is one where the equation is expertly balanced. Each one of the panels presented below is an example of that. Arranged from the tail end of Gary Larson's career back through the very beginning, featuring dark humor and total silliness alike, these comics also highlight how looking at any limited set of Far Side comics can give fans a sense of the scope of Larson's entire canon.

"Oh Boy, Was That An Ugly Day..."

First Published: June 3, 1993

This is the type of Far Side cartoon that got Gary Larson flack from his critics, who found it appalling that he could use animal cruelty as a punchline. Yet its divisiveness doesn't make this any less of a 10/10 Far Side joke. It is a perfect encapsulation of Larson's humor. A little bit ridiculous. A little bit edgy. Very funny, to readers who share his sensibilities.

"Oh boy, was that an ugly day," a woman tells her friend about the day her pet parrot pecked her husband's nose off, prompting him to "instantly [take] the bird to be debeaked." The beakless bird is the punchline here, in poor taste or not, and this outrageous Far Side scenario is the one Gary Larson conjured up to "make it make sense." By Far Side standards, anyway.

"Dear Mom...Dear Mom...Dear Mom..."

First Published: April 6, 1988

The joke Gary Larson returned to most frequently, when his subject was pet birds, was the idea of avian mimicry. Birds that can learn and repeat human speech. (We'll see this in multiple different incarnations throughout the remaining entries.) In this Far Side cartoon, Larson puts a slightly melancholic spin on the idea.

"Dear Mom," a bird writes, sitting in its cage and looking out the window, freedom so close, yet so far. "How are things back home? I'm doing pretty good..." the bird writes. Then it writes the same thing again. And again. And...you get the point. The bird has a limited vocabulary, and an urge to repeat itself.

"Hey Boid! Shaddup!"

First Published: December 23, 1986

Far Side readers have to wonder about this cartoon's backstory, the moment this poor loner decided that he thought he wanted a pet, and how quickly it turned out to be a huge mistake. Because he's sitting in his armchair polishing his gun, suggesting he might do something drastic to make the bird stop singing.

Or, "shaddup," as he's clearly been yelling at the bird a lot. The bird (or "boid") keeps repeating it back to him in his thick New York-coded accent, only adding to the man's mounting frustration. It is a classic Far Side from the height of Gary Larson's career, the kind of joke that was shocking back in the day, but that modern audiences are much less likely to bat an eye at today.

"Let's All Say It Together About A Hundred Times..."

First Published: January 5, 1985

"Here's our new hideout: 455 Elm Street," a Mafioso tells his thugs, as "the cops are closing in" on their current front business, a pet store, and they need to find a new place to lay low and go to the mattresses. A place where the authorities won't find them. That's "455 Elm Street," and the lead mobster wants his guys to "say it together about a hundred times" so everyone remembers it.

What he's not considering is that the room is full of parrots. Who are absorbing the address through repetition, just like the mob guys. It is a fantastic Far Side joke. If this Far Side cartoon were animated, it would start on a close-up of the mobsters at the table and then pull back to reveal the birds. Gary Larson approximates that effect, to the extent he can, by having the long caption draw readers' attention first, and the greater context of the joke kick in a second later.

"This Bird Should Not Be Exposed To Foul Or Abusive Sounds"

First Published: November 11, 1981

In its cage, this Far Side pet bird's eyes bulge, telling readers it knows full well that its new home isn't exactly a safe space or calm, soothing environment. "Uh oh," the woman on the couch says, reading the instruction manual that came with her new bird. "It says here," she reads out loud, "this bird should not be exposed to foul or abusive sounds," because it is "a good mimic."

Her husband is sitting on the couch next to her, beer in hand, watching TV. He seems calm enough in this moment, but the askew lamp and picture frame above their heads is meant to signify that he has a temper. It is clear why his wife is saying, "Uh oh." Her new bird is going to learn to shout and swear soon enough.

"You'll Never Get Away With This!"

First Published: June 24, 1980

It's the sort of thing someone shouts at their nemesis, right after their nemesis has bested them: "You'll never get away with this!" Except in this laugh-out-loud Far Side cartoon, it is an old woman yelling it at her pet bird. Who has, somehow, managed to free itself from its cage and stuff her inside instead.

The bird flies away, wide-eyed, like it can't believe it pulled it off either. It's a delightfully absurd joke in theory, which turned out outrageously perfect in its execution. The visual of the furious old lady cramped in the cage, hanging from the ceiling, bested by the escaping bird, is The Far Side at its finest.

"HARRY DONT SHOOT"

First Published: January 11, 1980

It is one of the first Far Side cartoons. The one that said, "hey, if it wasn't clear already, The Far Side isn't like the other comics in the funny pages." It set a precedent for dark, edgy Far Side humor, for jokes that left some readers feeling like the woman in the bird cage in the last cartoon, pointing at Gary Larson and shouting "you'll never get away with this."

In the panel, a man murders his wife, and their pet parrot rats him out to the police. Squawking "HARRY DON'T SHOOT" in between repeating the stock phrase "Polly wanna cracker" and "Pretty bird." It is a classic Far Side punchline, but readers can also see why Gary Larson returned to this bit in different ways multiple times throughout his career. It just had so much potential beyond just this one usage.

Final Thoughts:

The Far Side's pet birds were reliable recurring figures, especially paired with The Far Side's frequent living room location. Notably, birds in general proliferated The Far Side, when you take into consideration all the different types that Gary Larson made jokes about over the years.

Add up all the chickens and ducks, vultures and buzzards, and the pet birds like the one above, and you have one of The Far Side's most dominant class of animals.