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For most of the year, the Willow Ptarmigan lays low on the Arctic tundra, blending into the snowy landscape with its powder-white plumage. But as winter turns toward spring, the males begin to stake out territories and make their presence known. The suddenly fearless birds aggressively defend their claims from intruders while passionately exclaiming awebo! awebo! AWEBO!

Videos of Willow Ptarmigans accosting human interlopers have circulated online for years, but recently the popularity of such clips has skyrocketed, elevating the bird to meme status. Videos of ptarmigan encounters from cross-country skiers, snowmobilers, and other unsuspecting victims have been viewed millions of times across , , and , with dedicated to posting daily photos and videos of the birds—affectionately called “awebos” for their call. 

Most of these clips show the birds frantically running about and scolding onlookers, but an especially territorial ptarmigan will escalate from verbal reprimands to an outright attack, striking with flaps of its short, round wings.  This hormonal fervor—combined with the undeniable cuteness of the round grouse and its call—has become an endless source of entertainment to those unfamiliar with Willow Ptarmigans. “I could watch all 10 hours of this,” wrote one commenter on a of awebo videos. “It’s like a cartoon.” (For those familiar with the species, it might be concerning to see birds that are clearly agitated, so it’s worth noting that folks who run into a territorial male should move along and not add further stress.)

Bird Warde, an illustrator based in Portland, Maine, says they’ve been “super obsessed” with Willow Ptarmigans from clips they’ve seen online for several years, and they are happy that others are now joining them in their love of the plucky birds. “I don’t understand how you can be so cute and tiny and bold,” Warde says. The species’ recent popularity has driven  Warde launched last month to quickly become some of their best-selling products.

Wisconsin-based artist Kayleigh Ildiko has also seen an awebo boost, with her selling out to subscribers of her bird-of-the-month club. Ildiko thinks the birds’ facial features are a big part of their comical appeal. The bright red “eyebrows”—called combs by ornithologists and visible when a bird’s emotions run hot—give them a sense of personality. Then, of course, there is the awebo call itself—the real key to the bird’s internet stardom, she thinks. “Their little angry awebo noise is just so perfect,” Ildiko says. “It gets stuck in your head.”

In a 1995 study describing the vocal behavior of North American Willow Ptarmigans, a team of Canadian researchers reported that the awebo call (or kohwa, as they transcribed it) was associated with territorial confrontations and intruders near nests. Earlier studies on European Willow Ptarmigans identified these calls as signaling an intention to attack. If the awebo warning doesn’t work, the ptarmigan might escalate to a barking aroo, which “frequently preceded physical aggression,” the authors wrote.

Kathy Martin, the lead author on the vocalization study, has seen firsthand just how bold Willow Ptarmigans can be. She recalls watching one defend a footbridge from an off-duty hunting dog used to locate the birds for study. “The male ptarmigan was on one end, and my dog was trying to cross the bridge—but he didn’t want her to cross, so [the bird] was growling at her,” Martin says. “And as I looked out, she was turning around to go back.”

Martin says that ptarmigans can be especially feisty due to their population’s tendency to rise and fall in boom-and-bust cycles. In peak years, competition for desirable territories gets fierce. While fearlessness might not seem like a wise trait for a prey species, Martin says, she points out that clever adaptations suit them to a habitat where few other animals can survive. Ptarmigan flocks stay warm by fluffing up their feathers and burrowing deep into snowbanks. They stay clean with snow baths, and get water in winter by eating snow. They even grow longer claws and extra feathers on their feet. These natural snowshoes distribute their weight, allowing the birds to effortlessly walk atop the snow and reach the willow buds and twigs that sustain them through the winter.

Willow Ptarmigans are also one of the few species known to molt, or change their plumage, three times a year rather than once or twice. Similarly unusual is that the sexes molt at different times—the male’s extra molt helps him show off in spring, and the female’s helps her hide on the nest in summer. By the time winter rolls around, they’ve both changed into their white winter coats.

Warde, the Maine illustrator, visited Quebec in February after hearing reports of ptarmigans farther south than usual. They’d never seen one before, but after a full day of searching, they were still ptarm-less. On the second morning, the sun shone bright on the snow-blanketed forest. A light snowfall picked up as they drove down one last woodland road before leaving for home, when suddenly a single Willow Ptarmigan appeared just feet from the road. Warde immediately started crying from excitement. “All of a sudden, this bird that’s only existed to me through funny videos on the internet is right there on the side of the road in the snow eating sticks,” they recall.

While Warde is thrilled that more people know about ptarmigans now—“even if they just think of it as an awebo”—they hope the birds’ new fans learn how remarkable these hardy Arctic grouse are. Ptarmigan truly are cute, funny-sounding little birds, Warde says, “but at the same time, they’re so much more than that.”