Snowbird Lives?

NASHVILLE, TN — Snowbird, in some fashion, will continue to fly, even though he's a penguin.

A day after firing Steven Good, the man who has worn the suit of the avuncular avian that has served as WSMV's weather mascot for decades, the station announced that the oversized penguin will be appearing at Adventure Science Center's eclipse festival this weekend, but who will be donning the suit that was especially made for the 5-foot-4-inch Hood?

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WSMV's essentially called reports of Snowbird's demise fake news, even though the Snowbird social media accounts and internet presence disappeared quietly in the wake of Good's firing.

"Some media falsely reported that Snowbird was no longer with News 4," the station reported. "Snowbird appeared on Today in Nashville on Friday to announce the appearance at Saturday’s Music City Eclipse Festival."

But Steve Cavendish, editor of the Nashville Scene, which broke the Snowbird-extinction story, tweeted that Snowbird is now being portrayed by members of WSMV's sales staff and the job is rotating, which means Snowbird will not have his distinctive squeaky bird-voice and despite WSMV's insistence that he's available for public appearances, won't be able to do his usual read-alongs at libraries and in kindergarten classes.