The Far Sidefeatured a number ofmemorable comics about pet birds and their owners, often playing on the trope of parrots' ability to mimic human speech, to great comedic effect. Birds of all different kinds, from chickens and ducks, tobuzzards and vultures, were ubiquitous in Gary Larson’s cartoons, but there remains something especially memorable about his “bird in cage” comics.
There is a deep vein of naturalism and animal rights advocacyrunning throughThe Far Side, and Larson’s pet bird panels express this in their own unique, often uproarious way. In Larson’s imagination, the relationship between pet birds and their owners is a contentious one, and even in some cases adversarial.
The Far Side’s"bird in cage" entries are full of the strip’s characteristic weirdness and wonder, and most of them are certain toget a rise out of readers, one way or another.
9The Far Side’s First Pet Bird Comic Is Also Its Most Macabre
First Published: August 13, 2025
One ofThe Far Side’sfirst ten comics, this panel set a dark precedent forGary Larson’s sense of humorin general – and in particular, for his “pet bird” cartoons, which would continue to pop up periodically throughout the strip’s fifteen years in publication.
This panel also holds the grim distinction of beingThe Far Side’sfirst murder – though certainly not its last.
Here, two police officers question a man about the death of his wife –an investigation that gets a quick, vital break, in the form of the couple’s pet bird repeating back the victim’s apparent last words, “HARRY! DON’T SHOOT!“among its more expected repertoire of human sayings. Most notably, Larson has his loose-lipped bird saying “Polly want a cracker,” the phrase that has largely been synonymous with talking parrots in popular culture since it originated with a late-19th century advertising campaign.
8Animals Flipping The Script On Their Owners Was A Staple Of The Far Side
First Published: July 24, 2025
“You’ll never get away with this” an old woman shouts from the cramped confines of her pet bird’s cage, as the bird in question flies free, in one ofThe Far Side’smost amusing early examples of a pet completely upending the nature of its relationship with its owner.
Animals turning the tables on humans was a go-to joke for Gary Larson, and it is given a particularly potent visual expression here. The imagery of the woman stuffed into a far-too-small bird cage, trapped hanging from the ceiling of her own living room is high comedy, and draws the reader’s attention immediately.The best part of thisFar Sidecartoon, however, is the look of bewilderment on the bird’s face – as if it can’t believe this turn of events any more than its angry owner. Still, from the swiftness with which it is depicted flying away, it is evidently going to make the most of this opportunity.
7Gary Larson Established A Formula For The Far Side’s Pet Bird Panels With This Comic
First Published: August 08, 2025
Here, Gary Larson introduced a set-up that he would return to repeatedly over the years, featuring a couple and their pet bird.In theseFar Sidecartoons, Larson used the pet bird as a means of mocking less-than-ideal domestic situations. In this case, a woman revealsher husband’s negative qualities as she unboxes their new pet bird, noting “Uh-oh, it says here ‘a good mimic should not be exposed to foul or abusive sounds.”
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One of The Far Side’s most underrated recurring jokes involved unusual pets, from unexpectedly domesticated squids to goldfish that did tricks.
Once more, the funniest part of thisFar Sidecartoon is in the detail work Gary Larson does to make the atmosphere of this joke feel more immersive. The crooked painting and lampshade above the couples’ heads, the clothing hanger affixed to the TV antennae, and most of all, the look of alarm on the bird’s face as it realizes what kind of environment it has just been brought into.
6This Far Side Panel Proves Birds Singing Isn’t Always Music To The Ears
First Published: June 09, 2025
“Hit the bird Ruth, he’s stuck,” another beer-drinking, TV-watching husband tells his wife in thisFar Sidepanel – as their avian pet lets out a continuous stream of the same note, as if it is a record player that is stuck, or skipping.
While the casual way that the man tells his wife to strike their pet will certainly be off-putting to readers, it is an integral part of the joke – which is rooted not in the cruelty of the human characters, but rather in the equation of the bird in its cage with a household appliance. It is an ultimately silly premise, although its execution on the page that mightleave fans uneasy, questioning the meaning of the panel, which makes it worth another reminder that Gary Larson’s sympathies always remained squarely with his animal characters.
5This Bird’s Owners Really Should Rethink The Placement Of Its Cage
First Published: August 17, 2025
As funny as thisFar Sidecartoon is, there is a sense of desperation underlying it, which once more suggests a subtextual critique of how humans treat animals that – either consciously or subconsciously –guided Gary Larson in shaping this punchline. In the strip, a bird in a cagewaits anxiously for the adjacent cuckoo clock to strike the top of the hour, blurting out “SEND HELP” when the clock’s fake bird makes its momentary appearance.
The effectiveness of the humor here relies onLarson’s use of a sequence of panels, but what makes this cartoon particularly memorable is the way it makes readers empathize with the bird, trapped in its cage, forced to watch as another bird, one it doesn’t realize isn’t real, periodically appears and disappears.
First Published: August 24, 2025
In this laugh-out-loudFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson takes the concept of the “canary in the coal mine” to its logical – yet absurd – extension in the atomic age. Famously, canaries were used to detect potential hazardous gasses in coal mines, giving rise to the English language idiom.
In this panel,captioned “inside a nuclear power plant,” Larson imagines the equivalent: a canary in a cage that “has mutated,” prompting the employee who notices the bird’s third eye to scream for all his coworkers to run, as clearly they have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. The humor of the panel relies on the way the man drops his papers and raises his hands, along with his voice, in horror, as contrasted by the initial expressions of confusion on his coworkers' faces, as they realize too slowly what he’s saying.
3Gary Larson Images A Cross-Cage Conflict In This Far Side Bird Comic
First Published: June 07, 2025
In thisFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson breaks from his normal style of pet bird humor – which most often involved their human owners in some context – to depictan interspecies disagreement, between two birds separated in their own respective cages.
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Gary Larson delivered multiple hilarious Far Side panels set at museums & zoos, keenly subverting readers understandings of these locations.
One of the birds threatens to “rattle” the other’s cage, in aplayfulFar Sideinterpretation of the familiar saying, but what is especially amusing about this panel is the fact that the bird can’t actually make good on its threat. In other words, the avian’s comment is reduced to nothing more than bravado. This is an essential second layer to the joke; while most readers will initially be struck by Larson’s play on words, what will keep people thinking about this cartoon is the idea of these pet birds being all talk, no action.
2The Far Side’s Version Of “Eye For An Eye”
First Published: July 30, 2025
Without a doubt, this is the most intense relationship between a human and pet bird inFar Sidehistory. In the foreground of the panel,a man without a nose sits staring daggers at his beakless pet bird, perched above the TV set; in the background, his wife and a visitor sit drinking coffee, as she explains:
Oh, boy, was that an ugly day. Roy instantly took the bird in to be debeaked, all the while yelling ‘tit for tat! Tit for tat!
All in all, this joke is particularly troublesome;The Far Sidefeatured its share of animals behaving violently toward humans, and humans behaving violently toward animals, but the effects were rarely as visceral as in this comic. Thegrim backstory of thisFar Sidecartoonwill leave some readers uncomfortable, or even outraged. Those who gravitate toward the most macabre end of the spectrum of Gary Larson’s humor will appreciate the joke, despite its darkness, but even they will acknowledge it pushes the boundaries of what the artist was normally willing to do to get a reaction.
1The Far Side’s Parrots Did More Than Just Voices
First Published: August 22, 2025
In thisFar Sidepet bird cartoon,a man exclaims with excitement, “Boy, Henry…he really can do you!” as his pet bird mimics his friend’s puckered lips. The focus of the humor here is on the deliberately silly artistic choices Gary Larson makes with hishyperbolic depictions of the man and bird’s respective faces, yet what makes it stick out to fans of the artist’s work is the way it is exemplary of his ability to warp reality.
Once more, Larson’s joke rests on the idea of a pet bird being able to do something unexpected – in this case, rather than just mimicking sound, being able to contort its face to reflect that of the human in front of it. As routinely exhibited byThe Far Side, it only takes the smallest of tweaks to make the real surreal, and the ordinary strange.
The Far Side
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
