Here’s proof that the birds from the hit game Angry Birds actually exist in the real world.

When his father called him with the news that he had spotted an assortment of colorful birds at their bird feeder, wildlife photographer Scott Taylor of Coleridge, Nebraska, immediately grabbed his camera and was shortly at their kitchen window overlooking their backyard. He saw a group of male and female cardinals at the feeder and in the surrounding trees and was ready to get some some memorable shots.

“I live in Nebraska so on the day I took the pictures it was cold outside with snow flurries coming down,” Taylor told Earthly Mission. “The cardinals and the other birds were flying back and forth between the tree that you see in the background of the picture and the bird feeders that are in the back yard.”

Photo: Scott Taylor

As he began photographing one particular cardinal, it took flight and flapped directly toward Taylor. He managed to capture a moment when the bird’s wings are tucked tightly to its body, making the cardinal look like a fluffy red ball hovering in midair.

Photo: Scott Taylor

“Where I was standing, the bird feeders were between me and the tree. So in the picture where it looks like it was flying directly at me it was actually flying to the bird feeder that was in front of me,” the photographer continued to explain to the Mission.

Photo: Scott Taylor

Taylor didn’t pay much attention to the photos he had captured that day until he got home later on. When he started browsing through them on his computer, however, he immediately realized how amazing this particular shot was. And it also occurred to him that the cardinal captured in the photo resembled a certain cardinal named Red, the main protagonist in the popular game “Angry Birds” and the movies based on it.

So, the photographer zoomed in a couple of times to get a closer look at the bird’s expression, and sure enough, there was that popular angry face staring back at him. Greatly impressed by the stunning shot, he knew he had to share it with the world right away.

Photo: Scott Taylor

Needless to say, people quickly fell in love with the real-life Angry Bird, and the shot went viral, with the grumpy little bird bringing smiles to people’s faces all over the world.

“All of these little song birds are beautiful to watch and photograph,” Taylor concluded and we couldn’t agree with him more. Especially that he has created a new Internet icon.

“I still can’t believe it,” he admitted.