Newly Discovered Species of Hawk Turns Out to Be Spray-Painted Bird [VIDEO]

Some birdwatchers in New Zealand found a strange colored species of hawk that wasn't in any of the guidebooks. That's because it wasn't made by Mother Nature-- it was colored by Krylon.

Grant Michael Teahan, a farmer from New Zealand, had been trapping the majestic birds on a homemade trap that covered the birds in bright pink spray paint. Police report he trapped and painted an untold number of birds and has been releasing them back into the wild since 2009.

Police became involved when one of the painted birds was hit by a car and an investigation revealed that the brightly colored hawks had been painted with some kind of spray paint. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals conducted the investigation and helped lead police to Teahan.

A judge found Teahan guilty of ill-treatment of animals. He faces $50,000 in fines and up to a year in prison.

Not only did the reporting of the undocumented species help bring Teahan to justice, but he had also been videotaping the trapping and paintings of the birds and posting them on the Internet. We couldn't find one, and maybe that's a good thing. We don't need another reason to cry at work.

Watch a news report on the story below.

[via HuffPo Weird News]