<P> In the second half of 1987 Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, when a journalist news team records and interviews the platoon sent to Phu Bai, "Surfin' Bird" can be heard playing on both the soundtrack and in the background on a radio . </P> <P> The song is also featured in the "I Dream of Jesus" Family Guy episode, in which Peter Griffin overhears the song at a diner . He proceeds to annoy his family by playing the song virtually nonstop for the rest of the episode . It has since become a running gag on the show . In a subsequent episode it is revealed that Peter served as the original inspiration for the song, having used Stewie's time machine to travel into the past where he sang it for the Trashmen . </P> <P> In the movie The Big Year, Jack Black's character Brad Harris has "Surfin' Bird" as his cellphone ringtone . </P> <P> The Trashmen's tune was frequently played on Detroit radio and TV stations over the summer of 1976 during segments featuring the Tigers' 21 - year old rookie sensation Mark Fidrych . Fidrych was nicknamed "The Bird" because of his supposed resemblance to Sesame Street's Big Bird character, and because of his cartoonish antics on the mound, which included talking to the ball between pitches . Fidrych was named American League Rookie of the Year in 1976, and finished second in the voting for the American League Cy Young Award . </P>

Bird bird bird the bird is the word