Perfectly Timed Photo Captures The World's Happiest Bird

He looks so relaxed 😍

Sure, there are many birds flying in the sky — but few seem to be walking on air quite like this one.

Recently, photographer Karen Munro was on a wildlife cruise around the small island of Stroma, off the coast of Scotland, when she had a chance encounter with what may be the world’s happiest sea bird: This very pleased-looking fulmar.

Karen Munro

Munro actually didn’t realize she’d encountered this perfect picture of bird bliss until a little later.

“On arrival home I was going through my photos, most of which weren’t anything special as the light had been pretty poor that day,” Munro told The Dodo. “However I did have a laugh as soon as I saw this one, as the fulmar looks like he is smiling and having fun.”

It seemed the fulmar was in a state of euphoria — or modeling in an ad for some fancy bird shampoo.

Karen Munro

But while the fulmar does indeed appear to be pretty darn pleased, some added context from Munro helps explain the pose she captured. Either way, though, the bird is still spreading good vibes.

"Fulmars will often glide alongside the boat, but this one had just lifted off the sea and was shaking itself to dry off whilst flying," she said. "It’s always great to capture something different. Over the last few days I have had many people commenting on the ‘Happy Bird Photo’ and how it made them smile."

It's not hard to imagine, however, that seeing their carefree counterpart had other, less cheery fulmars feeling ...

Mike Pennington

... just a little envious.