For a brief moment, 21 million Australians must have thought their days were numbered. Or at least about to get a lot messier.

As Channel Nine's Peter Hitchener read the news recently, a giant seagull suddenly loomed into view behind him, swaggering and squawking, suggesting for a brief, glorious moment that gargantuan birds were taking over the Southern hemisphere.

Alas, Hitchener was not being forced at beak-point to break the news to the nation of a feathered invasion. The monstrous flier was, in fact, a normal size-gull who was taking a stroll right next to the news station's camera, positioned to get a cityscape shot of Melbourne.

A consummate professional (think of Hitchener as the Jeff Stelling of Channel Nine), Hitchener didn't so much as flinch. Keep reading to check out our winged wanderer, then enjoy our gallery of amazing stuff happening behind reporters' backs.