Exotic Bird Lands On Matt Lauer’s Head During ‘Today Show’ Segment

Today Show co-host Matt Lauer was conducting an interview on Tuesday morning when an unexpected guest arrived and landed on his head. That guest was a bird which was part of an exotic animals segment Lauer was conducting with co-host Ann Curry.

The scarlet ibis bird flew around the studio before landing right on Lauer’s head.

As Lauer exclaimed ‘Oh No” the audience broke out into laughter and Lauer, being the professional he is, allowed the bird to stay on his head as he continued on with the segment. When someone reached out to feed the bird Matt said “That thing has sharp claws!”

Matt Lauer would later say, “He mistook me for a turtle” after the animals keeper said “That’s a common perch.”

The Today Show co-host wasn’t joking about the bird digging it’s claws into his head, a close up of his head with the bird shows claws sinking into his flesh.

Here’s the video:

[Image: HuffPost]

Matt Lauer has the worst luck with animals, you may recall that back in March 2009 he was riding his bike when he had a collision with a deer which separated his shoulder. During that collision Today Show producer Jim Bell said, “A deer kind of came out of nowhere and in an effort to avoid hitting the deer, Matt slammed on the brakes and went flying. He separated his shoulder.”

Perhaps they should keep Lauer away from any future segments involving animals, for his safety and the safety of his co-workers.