Thunderbird abducting boy. The name of Thunderbird comes from American Indian mythology in which thunder is associated with birds, and is used to describe sightings of huge birds still reported today. There have also been reports of giant birds stealing children, for example: 10-year-old Marlon Lowe was lifted off the ground and carried 30 feet by a large bird (each wing around 4 feet long) in Illinois in 1977.