TikTokers send users howling with owl impressions. See the trend.
Saleen MartinTikTokers around the world are racking up likes and laughs with their impressions of owls.
The trend usually starts with social media users introducing themselves, then saying, “This is my impersonation of an owl, but it’s (insert celebrity/person/character here).”
While it's not clear who or what started the trend, it has since taken off, resulting in TikToks featuring owl impressions of politicians, rappers and others.
One user, TikToker @housewinemami, got in on the trend on Jan. 16, pretending to be an owl that sounds like members of reality television family the Kardashians.
“WhoO?” the user asked with the curious cadence of the Kardashians, posing a question. The video has since garnered 6.6 million views.
Here are some other top-ranking owl impressions going viral on TikTok this month.
Social media reacts to owl impersonations
TikToker Caleb Gordon took on the owl challenge by giving it a Jamaican twist on Jan. 15. In the video, Caleb said wearing a stern facial expression. "Whoooo? Bomba Whoooo?" the user said before bursting into laughter.
As of this week, the video has been played over 14 million times, and the video has been praised by many as their favorite owl impression so far.
User @briadeshaun took a more relatable route and impersonated an out-of-shape owl, worn out from flying and repeatedly panting to catch its breath.
One TikToker even took time to comment and say the out-of-shape owl had snatched the funniest TikTok title.
"The Jamaican owl was my fav until now," wrote @ceescandy_ on Jan. 17. "You did that girl."
User @jarodmonk used the trend to poke fun at the often difficult experience of watching foreign films that have been dubbed in English, lagging and lacking synchronization.
The user first mouthed a random word, then a second later could be heard saying "Who."
The video has garnered attention from TikTok accounts such as the official Welch’s Fruit Snacks account.
"This trend just keeps getting more creative," Welch’s Fruit Snacks wrote.
Celebs get in on owl trend
Once the owl trend took off, celebrities such as Nick and Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers got in on the fun.
In a Jan. 18 video shared to TikTok, Joe belted out "Whoooo" in his brother's raspy singing style.
Nick poked fun at his brother's engagement with fans at concerts, holding a fake mic and asking "WHOO out there has a sign tonight?"
Additionally, Jameis Winston, quarterback for the New York Giants, shared a video lots of millennials in love can relate to – an owl, but it's your mom when she found out you got a new girlfriend and the young lady keeps calling the family's house phone.
"Who that is out there playin' on my phone?" yelled Winston, an Alabama native, pretending to be a mother trying to get to the bottom of the situation.
TikTok users chimed in, noting that most of the people viewing the video probably didn't even have home phones for girlfriends to call due to the popularity of cell phones. Others could relate to Winston's video in other ways.
"Your mama is southern as hell," wrote TikToker @mindfully.meeks. "Sounding just like my mama."
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [email protected].