History Main / CirclingBirdies

** In ''Astérix and the Great Crossing'', a KO'd native American sees [[http://storage.canalblog.com/56/25/761447/58713706.jpg american stars.]] In the same book, another native American sees all the stars from the American flag.

!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Advertising]]
* In [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4qngg_froot-loops-hockey-1998_ads this commercial]] for Froot Loops from 1998, a teen hockey player gets knocked out during a game and hallucinates that he's playing against an entire team of Toucan Sams. When he comes to at the end, stars and Toucan Sams circle his head, as he asks "What's with all the birds?"
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCq6AoReMIA this ad]] from the late 90s, circling birdies are replaced by circling sandwiches and jars of Miracle Whip after a boxer is punched by a Miracle Whip-slathered boxing glove (a "knuckle sandwich").
* A late 2009 promo for WWE's Tables, Ladders & Chairs event featured cartoon birds circling wrestler Chris Jericho's head after he took a hard blow to the head with a metal chair. The ad was somewhat controversial, as some said it made light of the potentially serious head injuries professional wrestlers can face during a performance.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Ok_QlYuEw&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=2 This Sprint ad]] for NFL Mobile Live in 2009 used this trope. As a frustrated fan stared at his phone, the announcer mentioned that fans were watching players' Twitter feeds without seeing a single tweet. A stray football then hits the fan in the head, and versions of the Twitter logo bird fly around his head.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuI3_eDHCS8 This]] Moxie Girlz 3D commercial had one part where a girl was seeing objects circling her head.
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbavu2Al-ME this]] iconic Sprite commercial, a boy's hard landing after a failed basketball dunk results in tiny basketballs and Sprite cans circling his head.
* Japanese singer Tomohisa Yamashita experiences circling birdies after being on the receiving end of a cartoon character's punch in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx3ACO3IME8&feature=channel_video_title this]] Toshiba commercial
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adXo8fIVhM In this Cap'n Crunch commercial,]] a martial arts instructor is knocked over and sees pieces of Cap'n Crunch spin around his head.
* In the late [=80s=]/early [=90s=], the Swedish Chef of Franchise/TheMuppets fame had his own breakfast cereal, Croonchy Stars. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSGAZNMQOA This commercial]] features the circling stars version of this gag while showing the Chef making a batch of Croonchy Stars in "the Muppet Test Kitchen".
-->'''Narrator:''' It seemed impossible, but then [[{{Pun}} it hit him]].
* Cookie Crisp makes people have cookies for breakfast, but people say cookies are not for breakfast, but then have a taste and say that cookies ''are'' for breakfast. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=a6EO2zVsIfs This]] commercial uses bird sound effects when the teacher gets her taste of Cookie Crisp.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVSVeepDEHs&feature=related This]] UsefulNotes/McDonalds commercial used bird sound effects when Birdie crashed after she failed to land.
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCjI8Mz-94 this]] commercial for the ''VideoGame/AngryBirds [[WackyRacing Go!]]'' Telepod toyline, Chuck teleports into the game world and drives past the other racers, causing them to crash. Terence in particular was sent flying into the air, landing in the heap with [[MythologyGag three stars]] revolving around him.

[[folder: Anime And Manga]]
* In ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' the characters comment on that: "Wait, it's American, we're Japanese", and shoo out the birds, who swear as they fly away.
* In ''[[VideoGame/SakuraWars Sakura Taisen: Ecole de Paris]]'', Erica gets stunned [[RunningGag several times]]; each time she gets a "halo" of little fluttering angels, and remarks on them.
* Mahoro's circling birdies in ''{{Mahoromatic}}'' apparently are real, as they can be seen by other characters.
** Although they appear when she's asleep, and continually multiply until she wakes up, leading to some... awkward situations when Suguru decides to observe her when she's dozing off.
*** That may have been ''SUGURU''''s dream, as he was asleep at the time.
** At one point in the second season, Mahoro's birdies are seen to re-enter her head when she wakes up. Only five this time, though.
** Near the end of the manga, it is explained that [[spoiler:Matthew (actually named "Arcadia Matthew Faye Ray") is an artificial intelligence, the birdies are part of her "sleep program", and that Mahoro was patterned after Matthew and/or the creator of Matthew, "Mahoro Matthew Faye Ray").]]
* In the [[http://www.gogoanime.com/gokujou-seitokai-1-gokujou-seitokai-episode-1 first episode]] of ''Anime/BestStudentCouncil'', Rino gets afflicted with these, combined with TalkingInYourSleep, when Kaori bumps into her. Later in the episode, Kaori sees birds when she hits her head on a tree. This time they stay until the end of the episode.
* The manga of ''Manga/SoulEater'' has Crona seeing stars after a good bash to the head from Stein's foot. [[AmbiguousGender He/she]] even says "Uwaa-- I can see stars... but I can't figure out how to play with them~"
* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime sometimes features characters seeing circling bird-like Pokémon such as Pidgey or Torchic. Often, it indicates when a Pokémon is succumbing to the effect of the Confusion status. There is also a low chance of circling stars.
** [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Status_ailment This]] page explains the Confusion status in the anime in which it explains what happens when a Pokémon becomes Confused.
** Also, the Ditto at the beginning of ''Pikachu's Ghost Carnival'', in which the Ditto gets circling stars when it got hit on the head by a Cubone while Ditto was disguised as a Cubone.
* In one arc of the manga ''[[Manga/AhMyGoddess Oh My Goddess!]]'', and its second [[PragmaticAdaptation anime adaptation]], ''[[Manga/AhMyGoddess Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy]]'', there's a scene where Urd, [[spoiler: who has been split into her demon and goddess halves]], spins the two "round-and-round" so Keiichi, Belldandy, and Skuld can't tell which Urd is which, resulting in the Trope.
** Happened earlier than that in the TV series, in Urd's debut episode. When Keiichi gets medicine for Belldandy, he gets a bonus "instructional video" from the pharmacist (Urd in disguise). When Urd leans in for a kiss, an intrigued Keiichi follows suit, and Urd somehow accidentally knees him in the chin, resulting in the Trope for Keiichi.
* Happens to the title charcter of ''[[Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor The Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' when he's knocked silly in one episode.
* Seen a few times in ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'', both the stars and birdies variants. In the episode where Jean gets into a MushroomSamba after eating mushrooms, Marie knocks him out with his own encyclopedia, and he keeps the Circling Birdies for a long time afterward, even commenting on seeing them.
* During one scene of ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'', after Metal Robotnik crashes into the sea, Robotnik explains about his plans. However, when he mentions that Sonic "will have to fight something far more evil than Metal Robotnik," Sara hits Robotnik on the head, and stars circle Robotnik's head. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZ8Y5eS-Sc&t=4m31s This video has the entire scene.]]
* ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'' had this trope sometimes. For example, in ''Yellow,'' Agatha's Gengar gets these when it gets hit by Dizzy Punch. Meanwhile, in ''Diamond and Pearl,'' Roark's Craindos gets circling Torchic after becoming confused by a Water Pulse attack.
* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} special episode ''''Big Meowth, Little Dreams'', Meowth has circling Pikachus when he lands after being blasted off.
* One episode of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has Rock Lee seeing little Sakuras dancing around his head after being hit by her; they then stop to pretend to flirt with him before they all punch him again.
* In episode 7 of ''Manga/KotouraSan'', this happens to Hiyori, after she bangs her head against the wall a few times to get rid of thoughts about Manabe and Haruka she doesn't want to have.[[note]]She has a crush with Manabe, but became the HopelessSuitor and had a case of IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at this point. At that scene, she was reminded Manabe ''is'' her crush.[[/note]]
* Happens to Chi in ''Manga/ChisSweetHome'' during Chapter 45 (or near the end of Episode 91 in the anime) after Juri is a little too rough with petting Chi (which is by shaking Chi's face). Which of course is different in the anime, where Chi sees circling hearts.

[[folder: Animated Films]]
* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''
** Roger sees Circling Birdies after getting hit by a refrigerator while making a cartoon, but the director gets mad at him for not following the script: "It says 'Rabbit gets clonked, rabbit sees stars'. Not ''birds'', '''''stars!'''''" Roger proceeds to repeatedly bash himself in the head, resulting in a whole series of revolving visions of everything ''but'' stars.
** Later in the film, after Eddie goes to Toontown, he bumps his head getting out of his car and sees birdies (hatching from eggs and flying around his head), and shoos them away in disgust, giving one of them its own circle of something in the process.
** Roger [[BrickJoke would eventually see stars later on]], after -- literally -- [[AnvilOnHead getting a ton of bricks dropped on him]]. He regards their presence with, "[[NonSequiturThud Look, stars! Ready when you are, Raoul!]]"
* In ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', when Iago (a parrot) is knocked out by the Sultan flying on the magic carpet, he sees little flying sultans saying "Have a cracker! Have a cracker!"
* In ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Kuzco sees llamas after being hit with a frying pan.
-->'''Kuzco''': You've lovely wife...They're both very pretty...
* In ''Animation/TheReturnOfHanuman'', [[TheBully Tunnu]] gets these when he was crashed by a ball hit by [[BullyHunter Maruti]].
* Near the end of the [[Literature/TheBible "Noah's Ark"]] segment of ''[[Disney/{{Fantasia}} Fantasia 2000]]'', DonaldDuck is thrown against a wall after getting his foot stuck inside a rope holding up the door, and when he finally crashes down onto the floor, several animals on the ark can be seen circling his head (including [[FurryConfusion a pair of non-anthro ducks).]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'', when the pickpocket is confronted outside his home by the police he tries to run away but we hear a crash off screen. Camera moves over to show him on the ground with little birds circling his head. The birds are in fact real and he had run into a woman who had just bought the birds at the pet store. The store owner can be seen catching the birds in a net.
* In one of the credits gags in ''Disney/BrotherBear'', Koda uses one of his fighting moves on one of the moose, and we hear the bird chirping sound when he hits the ground.
* In ''Disney/PeterPan'' when Mr. Smee is pounding a sign on Captain Hook's cabin as he tells another pirate to be quiet, at that very moment Captain Hook opens the door to attack Smee but he accidentally hits him on the head with the hammer he was pounding the nails in with, he then sees stars and planets circling his head as he falls unconscious.

[[folder: Live Action Films]]
* Fred Flintstone sees circling pterodactyls after [[spoiler:Barney punches him due to a misunderstanding involving embezzling at Slate Co.]] in the live-action film version of the ''Film/TheFlintstones'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roEjpll8_gA as seen here]].
* Happens to George too many times to count in the two ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' films. One of the henchmen in the first film also hears birds after a punch, and Shep the elephant also sees circling stars and after unsuccessfully trying to use his head as a battering ram in the sequel.
* Brendan Fraser is in a class by himself for this trope. Not only does he experience it about a half a dozen times as George, but he also hears tweeting birds in the live-action film version of ''Film/DudleyDoRight'' and a cut scene from ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction.''
* ''Film/SpaceJam''
** Michael Jordan sees circling birdies -- more accurately, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS_bR0X2-8o circling golf balls with bird wings]] -- after a hard fall.
** Granny gets to see circling Tweety birds after being dog-piled by the Monstars.
* Animated birdies and stars circle Joe Torry's head after his character is punched in the comedy ''Sprung''.
* In ''The Scene,'' Jimmy Fallon hears tweeting birds after running head-first into a bus.
* In ''Gremlins'', BigBad Stripe hears tweeting birds after getting knocked out moments before he sees the fountain.
* In ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', Miss Piggy has birds circling as she sees Kermit for the first time.
* In ''Film/TheToxicAvenger 2'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unTl2ABT8kY in one scene]], a japanese girl hears tweeting birds after getting punched in the face.
* Matt [=LeBlanc=] hears birds after getting knocked out by a car door in ''Ed.''
* In the live movie The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris, one of the {{Big Bad}}s, sees these after his laptop falls on his head.
* The 1967 musical "Half a Sixpence" uses tweeting bird sounds after Arthur (Tommy Steele) is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m22FpPKsQSs tossed through a roof during a musical number.]] Somewhat lampshaded, in that actual birds are escaping as a result of his crash, adding cooing pigeons to the cacophony of the usual high-pitched bird sounds standard for this trope.
* In ''Film/InspectorGadget'' after Gadget uses a grappling hook to trip a criminal you see stars circling his head before he falls unconscious.
* In ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'' after Ash accidentally raises the dead and he tries to put the skeletons back in the ground, at one point a bunch of skeletons punch him at the same time and you hear tweeting birds.
* At times, movie trailers will add in a bird sound effect that does not appear in the actual film.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU426QLhMqA This scene]] from ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', for example, in which Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is knocked silly by his own shield while battling a knight, included bird sounds in one of the film's trailers, though they were not used in the film.
** Bird sounds were used after Tracy Morgan was hit in the head in one of the Film/LittleMan trailers.
** A trailer for ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' used bird sounds when Rapunzel knocks out Flynn with a FryingPanOfDoom.
** Mitch Eakins hears birds after recovering from a faint in a trailer for the sequel to ''Film/EvilBong''.
* The lead character (played by Seth Adkins) in "Funky Monkey" stumbles and hears birds after getting tackled hard during a football game.
* The direct-to-DVD sequel of Film/TheLittleRascals uses bird sound effects frequently after comedic injuries. Alfalfa hears birds twice: once after crashing into a car, and once after getting a pounding during a wrestling match. Waldo hears birds after getting socked by a spring-loaded boxing glove, and his father hears them after being whacked by a stray golf club. Stymie hears birds after the gang's homemade streetcar crashes.
* The villain in Munchie Strikes Back hears birds after being bonked by a bowling ball.
* In Bio-Dome, Doyle (Stephen Baldwin) hears birds after a whack in the head by a book sends him flying across the room.
* In "A Talking Pony?!?," aka "A Pony Tale," Wesley (James Lastovic) hears birds after experiencing several blows to the head with a horseshoe. He later hears birds again when the shock of hearing a talking horse causes him to faint.
* In ''Film/{{Critters}}'' 2 when Ugg and Lee shoot up the restaurant to try to kill all the Crites inside, one of them while attempting to escape hits it's head on the door, it then hears birds tweeting as it sits there dazed, this then gives it the idea to get the others to work together to break down the door.
* Muscle-bound giant Yeti (played by Robert Maillet, aka wrestler The Kurrgan) hears birds after having his head smashed by a cinderblock in ''Film/BrickMansions''.
* Lucas (Alex Ashbaugh) hears birds after a headbutt in [[https://youtu.be/szct7r8lfc4 this scene]] from spoof film ''Film/{{Superfast}}''.
* Bridger Zadina hears birds after walking into a punch in [[https://youtu.be/_4JJvHDAYlk this scene]] in "Kids Vs. Monsters."
* In A Fairly Odd Summer, Vicky (played by Devon Weigel) sees birds when she gets knocked in the head and falls to the ground.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* Happens frequently on ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' to characters following a head injury. At times, only the bird sound effects play, but other times animated birds and other objects circle the victims' heads. Recipients of the trope in the show include Ned, Billy Loomer, Cookie and Faymon Phorchin.
* Fittingly, Spike TV's ''Knockout Sportsworld'' often appends circling birds and stars around the heads of the athletes in its clips.
* Nickelodeon's ''{{Series/Roundhouse}}'' enjoyed playing with this trope. While injured actors usually only heard the bird sound effect, in the episode ''Disaster,'' a cast member spun a mobile of stars around Ivan Dudynsky's head after a fall, and a castmate remarks that she can tell he's injured because of the tweeting birdies. In another episode, Dudysky is clonked with an anvil and says that he sees "stars," as a castmate spins a mobile with cutouts of Cher, Whoopi Goldberg and other Hollywod big names around his head.
* Jimmy of ''Out of Jimmy's Head'' sees circling birdies a couple of times after being bonked with a mallet.
* A wrestler felled by Slater sees flashing stars, accompanied by bird sound effects, in ''SavedByTheBell''.
* The boys of ''Series/BigTimeRush'' sometimes experience this trope. [[TheDandy James]], for example, hears tweeting birds after a thrown shoe clonks him on the head in one episode. Carlos hears birds in the premiere episode when a shopping cart he's riding in slams into a car. Logan and Camille both hear birds in another epsisode, when they run towards each other in slow motion and crash hard. Logan, Carlos and James all hear birds in another episode, after dizzying themselves while spinning on a bat and falling. In the episode "Big Times Rides," James hears birds after crashing his motorcycle through a wall, and Logan and Carlos both hear birds when their wagon crashes into a car.
* On [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Amz8T7Qids this episode]] of his eponymous Nickelodeon series, Nick Cannon asks an animator to turn him into a cartoon. The animator obliges, drawing a sketch of Nick who gets hit with an IllogicalSafe, resulting in the trope. Nick then rethinks the wisdom of wanting to be a cartoon character.
** Happens to Nick in another episode, in which Nick gets knocked silly while trying to slide into home in a baseball game, leaving him on his back and hearing tweeting bird sound effects.
* Invoked in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. After running face-first into a door, J.D. remarks that he hit his head so hard he thought saw cartoon birds but then realized that he was just seeing the wallpaper in the pediatric ward.
* Tory from ''Series/MythBusters'' sees a ring of birds circling head his after being knocked out during a kickboxing match, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zYVybHyNbI as seen here]].
* On a segment on Popular Mechanics for Kids, animated stars appear and bird sound effects play after host Jay Baruchel is beaned with a baseball.
* ''YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' used a bird sound effect after a head injury on rare occasions. Alasdair, for one, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lw_x26gKag hears tweeting birds]] after a hard fall from the ceiling in the ''Wildlife/Animals'' episode. In one of the later episodes, Christian [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEHNjxbJ7EE hears birds]] after the coach hits him on the head with a baseball bat. Strangely, the show never used the sound during the caveman sketches, which usually centered on finding a way for the caveman dad to bash his kids in the head with a club.
* ''{{Unfabulous}}'' uses bird sounds in the episode "The Toot." In a [[DaydreamSurprise daydream sequence]], Addie imagines herself passing gas with enough force to send her boyfriend Jake flying. He crashes into a soda machine and looks dazed as bird sounds play and soda cans clonk him on the head.
* Mexico's version of the game show "Hole in the Wall" ("Aguas con el Muro") uses this trope on contestants who get knocked into the water. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbek2PMbJu4&feature=related this clip]], for example, singer Adrian Varela sees circling dolphins after his fall.
* ''Series/AmericanIdol'' used the bird sound effect in the audition phase of its 11th season when one contestant, Tyler Beach, banged his head on a low-hanging pipe when celebrating his golden ticket to Hollywood, as seen in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwQJyomFUzI this clip]].
* MTV's ''Room Raiders'' used bird sounds in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PJJF3BDn-A one episode]] after a contestant banged his head on the top of a canopy bed.
* During a stop-motion segment on a holiday episode of That70sShow, Kelso is struck by lightning, falls to the ground and hears tweeting birds, as seen in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKPOB0M7mGI&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=4&feature=plcp this clip]].
* Saban Entertainment's live-action shows in the 90s frequently used bird sound effects to indicate head injuries, particularly on the original PowerRangers series. The comedy relief characters -- primarily Bulk and Skull -- were the chief recipients, although they occasionally were used with villains or even occasionally the heroes. Saban's Beetleborgs took it a step further and often added animated stars after head injuries, usually to Flabber, although one of the heroes, Roland, also saw stars a few times.
* The Spanish soap Rebelde occasionally used bird sound effects after an injury. Unlike many shows, it was not confined to head injuries. One character, Miguel, heard birds when another character stepped on his hand.
* In an episode of ''ShakeItUp'', Deuce says before passing out: "Am I looking up? Because I see stars."
* On the "Driving Lessons" episode of ''LifeWithDerek," Ralph (Shane Kippel) gets knocked over and hears bird sounds. He then remarks about seeing stars on the ceiling.
* Happens to Dean twice in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Hunter Heroici." The plot centered around a comatose retirement home resident whose dreams of a cartoon world affected the reality around him. Dean first decides to test the theory by whacking himself on the head with a book, leaving him dazed and hearing tweeting birds. Later in the episode, the villain hits Dean with a frying pan several times, and he hears cuckoos. Additionally, in the episode "The Monster at the End of This Book," a meta-episode in which fanfaction is becoming reality, Dean experiences the stars variant in a somewhat lampshaded fashion. The fanfiction had a point that said "Dean saw stars." This became reality when Dean, having been hit by a car, comes to seeing stars before his eyes. He remarks on them, then it comes into focus revealing the stars actually are a pair of dangly star earrings worn by a lady helping him.
* On the ''Series/{{ANTFarm}}'' episode "Scavantger Hunt," Cameron sees miniature versions of Gibson circling his head after he's beaned with a bell. Disney used the episode as a sort of "Where's Waldo" game where viewers were supposed to count every appearance of Gibson, so the trope played into that.
* In one episode of ''LizzieMcGuire'', after Lizzie is knocked silly by her own locker door, the scene cuts to the cartoon version of Lizzie, who has stars and planets circling her head [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLu4rDEglg as seen here]] with some uh.. Cranial Eruption.
** Lizzie's brother Matt also experiences this trope a few times via sound effects, such as in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrTCv0QN9LE this episode]], when he unsuccessfully tries to break a board with his head.
* Fix-up television show ''BlindDate'' sometimes would animate birds [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5F6G1GRGKQ&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=5would or other objects]] around the head of an injured dater.
* In a segment on boxing, New York TV reporter and man-about-town Ben Aaron got knocked out by his female opponent, leaving him hearing cuckoos and seeing stars and images of the opponent's head circling his head. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9IkpYxYT6s&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA Here's the clip.]]
** Ben later suffered a similar fate after an encounter [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQ-VLkCZo8 with a sumo wrestler.]]
* ''BillNyeTheScienceGuy'' often would use bird sound effects after Bill or one of his kid helpers suffered a mishap. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7C9PKVeeQ In this clip,]] for example, a kid hears birds after being clonked with an apple. Frequently, this trope would occur after an OffscreenCrash.
* Sometimes used on the 90s version of Zoom. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGbx0dZHlr0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA In this clip]], for example, Zoom-er Kenny hears birds after a few mishaps during an exercise session. In another episode, a kid exploring the beach hears birds after being bopped with a football.
* In a fifth season episode of ''TheCosbyShow'', Theo's friend Mitchell (Don Reed) invokes this trope while doing an extended impression of a kung-fu movie, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv4bS7OQnIM as seen here.]] After feigning taking a few hits, Mitchell makes the sound effect of birds while moving his hand around his head. The bit was actually taken from a stand-up routine Reed was doing at the time.
* Billy (Billy Draper) of the Timmerman Brothers hears birds twice after slipping and falling on ice in ''Series/TheNakedBrothersBand'' Christmas special.
* In the ''SNL'' spoof music video "What Does My Girl Say," pictures of butts circle around Jay Pharoah's head.
* Spanish-language Cartoon Network sitcom "La CQ" frequently adds animated birds around the students' heads when they fall, get hit by a ball or suffer any other wide range of slapstick mishaps. [[TheCheerleader Jenny]] and [[Main/CloudCuckooLander Monche]] are the most frequent victims, though all of the main cast and much of the supporting cast experience it at one time or another.
* On a season 5 episode of Tosh.0, Daniel Tosh experiences this trope after recreating the classic cartoon gag of painting a tunnel on the wall and crashing head-first into it.
* Both JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake heard birds after crashing into one another during a sketch on an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club.
* In a segment on the U.S. version of "Big Brother 4," cuckoo sounds were played when Justin was bopped playfully by another contestant, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGbx0dZHlr0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA as seen here]].
** Many seasons later, on the U.S. version of "Big Brother 17," former contestant Caleb Reynolds experienced the trope when he came to host a challenge. Caleb broke a board [[Main/HardHead with his head]], and the next shot showed him looking dazed with animated stars around his head, [[https://youtu.be/AlWoYjkBodY?t=2m36s as seen here]].
* Tony Hawk heard bird sound effects after a crash on ''Series/MadTV''.
* In "A Changed Man" on ''Series/{{Medium}}'', Allison falls and hits her head. Bridgette asks if she saw stars, or planets, or these. Ariel tells her that they're only cartoons, [[DiscussedTrope Bridgette insists that they could be in real life too.]]
* The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange used this on rare occasions. In the episode "Welcome to My Fruitmare" Orange hits his head on a wall, then he sees stars with faces and falls asleep. In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthA_6s3Evo 2013 promo]], Broccoli drops a brick on Nerville's (Toby Turner) head while he is recording a voiceover. He falls and gets back up with oranges circling his head, and he comments on them.

[[folder: Theater]]
* The stage musical version of ''Disney/TheLionKing'' invokes this trope. At the end of ''I Just Can't Wait to be King'', the actor playing Zazu notices his bird puppet is gone. He asks, "Where is my bird?" before running smack into the wall at the side of the stage. Bird sound effects play as he staggers in a daze momentarily.
* Used in "Hot Shoe Shuffle," a West End musical about five Australian tap-dancing brothers. When the youngest brother, Slide, is [[TheDoorSlamsYou hit in the head by a door]], he does a vaudeville-style dazed stagger while bird sound effects play. Adam Garcia originated the role, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6c1PjYVUqo&feature=related as seen here.]]
* Used in the 2011 Broadway revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." In the "Grand Old Ivy" number, Finch (played first by Daniel Radcliffe and later by Darren Criss and Nick Jonas) is playing an imaginary football game and runs into a rather large player, which sends him flying in slow motion as bird sound effects play.
* The 2008 version of "Broadway Bares," a burlesque parody of Alice in Wonderland, used bird sound effects near the end when Alice (fittingly for this trope, played by Mary Birdsong) accidentally bonked herself with the Queen of Hearts' scepter. Earlier in the show, Alice hit herself repeatedly on the head with a book in frustration and, in a daze, mentioned seeing "bunnies" afterward, which ushered in the first appearance of the White Rabbit.
* In David Lindsay-Abaire's play "Fuddy Meers," the son Kenny mentions having cartoon birdies flying around his head when recalling abuse by his father, adding a small bit of levity to an otherwise serious scene.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', whenever DonaldDuck and Goofy (or any of your other companions, for that matter) are [[NonLethalKO knocked out]], stars circle their heads.
* Unconscious guards in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series are differentiated from dead guards by a little halo of stars merrily orbiting above their heads. As the guard gets closer and closer to waking up, one star at a time will cheerfully ascend heavenward and vanish. A guard with five stars won't be waking up for a while, but a guard with one star could open his eyes any time... (Weirdly enough, the [=MGS=] games are usually considered serious. Of course, it does fulfill a gameplay function.)
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', when sneaking around the Gerudo Fortress, Link can stun Gerudo guards with either his Hookshot or arrows. If arrows are used, then the Gerudo falls down, and has stars circling her head.
** Fellow auction house patrons in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' see stars (which sound like birds) upon being stunned by Link's bids.
*** This can be done to quite a few characters in ''Wind Waker'', including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScQFV_Y3nE&feature=channel Link after a Hurricane Spin attack,]] but Medli is the only one who has actual birds circling her head.
*** Probably because she ''[[WingedHumanoid is]]'' [[WingedHumanoid a bird.]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' has lights orbiting Link's head whenever he's knocked down by That One Miniboss, Blaino, who soon uses the opportunity to uppercut Link back to the dungeon entrance.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' an actual bird circles the character being attacked by Confusion spell animation followed by question marks at the end of the spell animation.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' uses circling chocobos.
* Franchise/{{Pokemon}} has been using this to show [[StandardStatusEffects Standard Status Effect]] Confusion since at least ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''.
** Technically, the ones in ''Gold''/''Silver'' are bird ''balloons''.
** In ''Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver'', in the minigames, the birds are replaced by Psyduck.
** In the Pokéwalker, the player's Pokémon experience this; when knocked out, in the journal, stars circle that Pokémon's head, Blissey for example. For large Pokémon, the stars that circle its head are not in the background, but above the background. Wild Pokémon do not experience this trope; when the HP hits zero, they run away.
** Also in the Gen V games during the Poke Transfer minigame, circling stars appear if two Pokemon bump into each other by mistake.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' has this as well for Confusion, but ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity'' takes it to the next level; during the intro, the hero hears birds after falling from the sky.
* Dizziness in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' was indicated by the character standing groggily with stars, bells, birds, or {{Grim Reaper}}s circling their head.
* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' (not in the NES [or Virtual Console] version): When Bub/Bob dies, after he spins out, he falls on his back and dizzily sees stars above his head while his eyes circle around (no spirals) before poofing away. It's also in the first ''Puzzle Bobble''[=/=]''Bust-A-Move'' game, in which the sprite animations are based on Bubble Bobble's.
** ''Bubble Symphony'': Bub and Bob still fall backwards upon death (even though they spin out differently; their original spinouts being taken by Coro and Kulu) and their eyes circle around but no stars are visible.
** In ''Puzzle Bobble 4'' / ''Bust-a-Move 4'', when the player loses, Bub/Bob immediately gets dizzy, gains spiral eyes, twirls around, falls forward, and has birds circling above his head. Also the case for Bub in [[RemadeForTheExport the Game Boy Color exclusive]] ''Bust-A-Move Millennium'', and Bob in ''[[AC:[[RecycledInSpace SPACE]]]] Puzzle Bobble''. (Bob the unlockable character cries instead in ''[=BAMM=]''.)
** ''Bubble Bobble Plus'' ([=WiiWare=]): They spin out as fast as in the arcade original and end up lying on their back before they poof away. There are no hovering stars. [[http://gonintendo.com/?p=72242 According to this.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', a player hit with a baseball will be temporarily stunned and treated to a third-person view of their character in a dazed trance, complete with "[[UnsoundEffect BONK!]]" written over their heads with stars circling it.
** There's also the Halloween version (When they get in contact with the ghost in Harverst and one of the Headless Horseless Horsemann abilities), where instead of "BONK!" it's "YIKES!".
* In the Wii ''PunchOut'', when an opponent is stunned, something related to their nationality/gimmick will circle their heads. For example, Piston Hondo has circling egg sushi.
** Unsurprisingly, as it's basically a knockoff of the ''Punchout'' series, Glu's Super KO Fighter 2 uses the trope in the same fashion when a fighter is knocked down. The fighter 15 Cent, a parody of 50 Cent, sees circling dollar signs, for example. Your character sees simple stars. The trope actually factors into gameplay, as the fewer circling items above the character's head, the more likely he is to be able to get back up.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' to monsters if they get smacked in the head with a blunt weapon enough times, or if they get hit with a flash bomb. Can also happen to the hunters if they get hit with certain attacks, or receive too many hits within a short span of time (In which case the number of stars deonotes how much time is remaining in the stun).
* Circling birdies denote being stunned in the ''Franchise/TalesSeries'', which can happen to pretty much anyone who suffers enough abuse in a short period of time, or if they get smacked upside the head with a Pow Hammer.
* Any enemy stunned by VideoGame/CommanderKeen's Neural Stunner in ''Keen 4'', ''5'', and ''6'' will see stars around its head -- if you don't, that means the stunning is only temporary. Fortunately, this applies to Keen himself if he gets stunned by his own fire in ''6''.
* The final frame of Mario/Jumpman's death animation in most versions of the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' includes a plain white halo. It was likely intended as this but limited by hardware.
* In the first two ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games, Diddy will get a ring of stars over his head if you lose a life while playing as him. In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', enemies you stun with the peanut popgun/ground pound get an actual birdie circle.
* Most of the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' games feature this with birds if a character is stunned by something like dangerous areas or hazards on the game board.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', any character [[http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Stun stunned]] by a broken shield or reflector, exploded Deku Nut, Mewtwo's Disable move, Weavile's False Swipe, Wario's Wario Waft, or Luigi's Negative Zone will be rendered immobile and a tweeting sound effect is heard. ButtonMashing may get the player out of the "stunned" effect sooner.
** In ''Super Smash Bros For 3DS and Wii U'', stunned characters have circling stars.
* Falling from great heights causes this (and loss of a hit point) in ''VideoGame/TheLostVikings''. If you are in the unfortunate situation of already having only one hit point, the poor viking [[CriticalExistenceFailure hitting the ground will splash to tiny pieces and die.]]
** Also occurs if Eric tries to ram a wall that DOESN'T break on impact.
* Each ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' character has a different circling something when dizzy. Felicia has white cats, for example. Some, like Morrigan, have little versions of themselves.
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/BioShock2''. If you club a splicer while guarding a [[CreepyChild Little Sister]], she comments "Daddy's makin' you see stars 'n' birdies!"
* Stunning in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' causes stars to appear with bird sounds.
* A character in ''NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2'' whose guard has been broken will stand there, dazed and with yellow birds circling over his or her head.
* In one cutscene of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', as Chip explains on how he lost his memory, when he said "And then nothing," he sees stars and tiny versions of himself circling his head (Wii version only, for they are replaced with normal stars in all other versions), [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHlyqlwjVtA&feature=related as seen here.]]
** Dr. Eggman did not get the same thing; in another cutscene, Eggman sees stars after a kid throws a rock at Eggman's head, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmFPbp-N3s as seen here.]]
** Any time a character in ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'' is knocked onto their back, they briefly see circling stars.
** In ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', Knuckles gets circling... ''something'' orangey-yellow when he starts coming to after being briefly knocked out during a cutscene in Hidden Palace Zone. Due to graphical limitations and the size of the circling objects, they're hard to identify, although they are most likely birds or abstract shapes.
* ''CreatureWorld'' also has Seeing Stars Head Bonk, and Seeing Birds Head Bonk, in which users see stars, or birds when they wear the hat. There is also a hat in which users have hearts in their eyes and hearts circling the user's head.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' games sometime feature this with birds or stars when players or enemies are stunned. In ''Bomberman Blast'', if a player is stunned, the tweeting of birds can be heard from the Wii Remote Speaker.
* ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' has this trope; players and enemies that are dazed get a halo of circling mushrooms. This happens after taking damage by a certain enemy and so on.
* ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'' features circling stars at one point. And you need to take these as an item.
* ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'': While they're not ''shown'', falling to the bottom of the drained lake for the first time will result in a cutscene of Klaymen being stunned, which is accompanied by typical "birdies" sounds.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Epic Mickey}}'' Mickey sees Gremlins after getting slammed in the face while freeing one from a safe. The gremlin then flies over to him, takes a moment to glance between Mickey and the circling versions of himself, then comments on what a good likeness they are.
* ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'' has this trope with stars, birds, or angels circling a dazed fighter's head. ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlk0gVSx28M&feature=related Click on this link to go to the sample combos, in which most fighters were dazed by combos.]])
* VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon, in the original trilogy at least, sees stars whenever he's hit.
* Dirk from ''VideoGame/DragonsLair II'' has this trope, but only consists of circling hearts in one death scene... no, ''two'', in Level 3, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3s11LZOFOo&t=12m24s and circling stars in another death scene in this longplay.]]
* Wii Party features numerous ways to inflict this trope (stars with bird sound effects) upon your Miis, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-K1rjzgK0&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=1&feature=plcp this montage]] demonstrates.
** Wii Play and Wii Play Motion also uses the stars to the duck in Wii Play and the Mii you selected in Wii Play Motion's minigame Cone Zone.
* In ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'', when Kirby is stunned, a bird circles Kirby's head.
** However, World 2's boss gets circling stars.
* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', if you defeat Vivi, a bat circles Vivi's head.
* ''VideoGame/PowerInstinct'' has this starting with the first game, but one of the stuns are flying hearts. The second game takes this to the next level with circling objects, such as people, sushi plates, chicks, and fish.
* So you are playing ''VideoGame/FightersHistory'', and you fight an opponent. However, if you hit a weak spot multiple times and when a character is stunned, this game has circling objects that differ from each character, similar to ''Darkstalkers''. Take Liu Feilin for example. When Feilin is stunned, she sees circling fairies. For another example, Liu Yungmie sees circling unicorns when she is stunned.
* Happens often in the ''VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' series after they get hit on the head with an object.
* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderOfCenty'', the first boss, the Big Bad Wolf, attacks by hitting himself on the head with a hammer, causing stars and birds to circle his head. He then uses these objects to damage you.
* In ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'', Ralph gets stars circling over his head when running into a wall. And in one instance, Daffy Duck gets them too.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a character can get "dazed" if a monster hits him from behind, resulting in a 50% reduction to his movement speed for 3-4 seconds. While he's dazed, an animation of swirling stars appears over his head.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/SuperTanookiSkin2D'' has Mario seeing stars.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'', stars (or little birds in the remake) circling over a lying character indicate that they are simply stunned rather than killed.
* Music/JustinBieber, Robert Pattinson, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull and the other various celebrities featured in the online boxing game "The Brawl" experience the stars version of this trope when they take enough abuse.
* ''Quik the Thunder Rabbit'' has circling birdies when the player character suffers CollisionDamage.
* True to its desert theme, in ''VideoGame/TinyAndBig'' when Tiny gets hit by a boulder thrown by Big without dying (or is stunned for, ahem, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard other reasons]]), a set of small rocks circle around his head.
* ''WiiSportsResort'' has ''Cycling'', a bike sport. One of the features of this sport is that it has a stamina system. If a Mii's stamina runs out, he/she stops in his/her tracks with stars circling his/her head.
** ''Wii Sports Club'' has the ''Boxing'' sport from the original ''WiiSports''. One of the differences, though, is the inclusion of a stun system in which after a Mii's HP goes down to a certain point, he/she is stunned and sees stars, leaving him/her unable to punch, though he/she can still dodge.
* In ''VideoGame/LittleKingsStory'', you can cause a couple of bosses to get hurt in ways that induce CirclingBirdies And Stars while they're stunned. If the Onii King is in the throes of a tantrum when an Onii has thrown something to him for him to throw, he won't catch it, and be stunned. If you cut a totem pole while the Owl Hag is standing on it, she'll fall and be stunned.
* Iosa the Invincible from ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' has lights orbiting her head when stunned. She sees less and less as she gets close to recovering.
* This occurs a couple times in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', when an opponent is caught in Wonder Woman's lasso of truth or when Zatanna puts her opponent in a hypnosis stars will circle their heads.
* In one version of ''Videogame/BattleChess'', Rook takes Knight and Bishop takes Knight both involve head trauma for the knight, complete with "cuckoo" sound effect.
* In the first {{VideoGame/Pikmin}} game, Olimar has circling stars after he crash lands.
** In the second Pikmin Short Movie "Treasure in a Bottle," the Yellow Pikmin's plan is to use a Bomb Rock to free the Red Pikmin trapped in the bottle. It works at first, but the Red Pikmin falls back into the bottle. When the three Pikmin go to the bottle, the Red Pikmin that was stuck is now dazed and the Red Pikmin has circling stars around its head.
* In ''VideoGame/ChipChanKick'', stars will circle over stunned enemies while a twittering sound effect plays.
* In a cutscene in ''Rita James and the Race to Shangri La'' a Yeti which gets clonked by a low-hanging stalactite sees light flashes and spirals.
* VideoGame/AnimalCrossing City Folk uses this trope when you go to the city and enter Katrina's Fortune Shop. No matter what you ask her, Katrina will drop an anvil or wash pail on your characters head and your character will hear tweeting birds and see stars for a few seconds.

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
** One strip showed MadScientist Gil [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040719 seeing]] circling [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld airships]].
** Lady Vrin gets to [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20061023 see stars]].
** Mini-Clanks [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091012 have]] circling ''cogs''.
** Maxim [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100609 gets]] circling {{Nice Hat}}s.
* In a ''Numbskulls'' strip, Ed finds that he doesn't have a star for the top of his Christmas tree, so the Numbskulls send him outside to fall over and hit his head. Sure enough, stars start dancing around his head; however, one of them is frozen solid by the cold, allowing him to pluck it out of the sky and stick it on the three.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0005.html Circling Stars]] are [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0186.html not uncommon]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html early on]].
** In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0716.html "She Didn't Miss"]], a lizardfolk bounty hunter named Gannji gets three circling pterosaurs after getting hit by a "Power Word: Stun" from Vaarsuvius.
** Earlier, Lien threatens to hit Qarr the imp so hard he would see demonic circling birdies.
* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011019 birdies]]
* ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'': [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/back-in-college/ NOT birdies]], and with WingdingEyes thrown in.
* ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie''
** [[http://www.pennyandaggie.com/index.php?p=950 When Brandi knocks her out,]] Xena gets circling ChurchOfHappyology logos.
** [[http://www.pennyandaggie.com/index.php?p=92 Also happens to Nick]]; he gets circling stars when a bookself falls on him.
* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfShanShan'', [[http://shanshan.upperrealms.com/view.php?pageid=006&chapterid=1 after running into the gate]].
* Happens to Princess Rosalina in one segment of ''Webcomic/TheThreeLittlePrincesses'' after her kart [[spoiler:crash-lands in the castle,]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPsXB2vo90&t=8m7s as this video shows.]]
* In ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'', [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-6-31/ Rusty gets the stars after falling into an underground tunnel]].
* Played with on ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', using {{Twitter}} icons [[http://archives.erfworld.com/Book%202/173 as the circling birdies.]]
* ''Webcomic/NuzlockeComics'': Petty's [=HeartGold=] ''Nuzlocke'' Run had this; [[http://pettynuzlockehg.smackjeeves.com/comics/1463764/part-6/ Penelope the Zubat sees circling stars after she runs into Locke.]]
* In the ''Webcomic/DoctorWhooves'' webcomic, [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] experiences ''circling TARDIS'' after giving a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger psychic headbutt]] to Lyra.
-->'''The Doctor:''' Again, never again. Especially a unicorn. Too dangerous!
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* The Pretty Stars videos had a girl saying that she is seeing pretty stars and birdies, such as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM3vrhH2BFY&feature=related this one.]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtS2uivsfX4&feature=related And this.]]
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqH6ltiP95M&feature=related this]] video, a girl gets hit on the head, and says she is seeing stars. At the end, she says she is seeing stars and birds circling her head as she hears tweeting bird sound effects.
* Danny Casale of DannysStudio sees stars with bird sound effects when he finds himself in an VideoGame/AngryBirds parody in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJIEx20zLM this video.]]
* The Feet and Sleep sereies had bird sound effects, and sometimes stars or birds circling a dazed girl's head.
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wai9CnvatBo&t=12m12s this]] episode of ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'', Bugs Bunny drops an anvil on James Rolfe's head, and James sees Tweety Birds around his head and swats them away in anger.
* ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'' has a parody called "Pokémon In Real Life" starring Anthony [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzy9D_YKxso&t=1m32s This part]] has a scene of Anthony noticing Jigglypuff hiding in a bush after being put to sleep by the song. Anthony then [[spoiler: finds a brick]] and yells, "TAKE THIS!!!" Then, he [[spoiler: throws the brick at said bush]] and it hits Jigglypuff '''in the head''', and Jigglypuff staggers in a daze as it hears bird sound effects, and Anthony has the chance to engage battle with Jigglypuff.
** Anthony himself also experiences this trope in his aptly named video [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPBQwgk3t4 "Punch myself in the face so hard I see birds."]] In true cartoon fashion, Anthony tries to shoo away the birds circling his head after he's hit.
* Website/DeviantART user ~Nachturnal once created a story called [[http://nachturnal.deviantart.com/art/Spin-212048441 "Spin"]], where a female Whimsicott, who played pranks on shiny Pokémon because she was jealous, tries to make a Spinda dizzy, but only made herself dizzy. Cue circling stars around Whimsicott's head. According to the story, "it took a while for Whimsicott to stop seeing stars."
* The YouTube comedy short [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlMXgCSSA8w "The Perfect Spot"]] uses circling stars at the end when one of the actors crashes headfirst into a tree. Bird sounds also are used throughout the video as the two guys undergo various slapstic antics.
* At a couple points in ''WebVideo/TheCartoonMan'' saga, Roy and Simon get hit in the head hard enough that stars circle their heads, accompanied by the sound of birds tweeting.
* Happens several times to the lads in Adsapaps' [[http://youtu.be/pLVXpF1Ft_8 "Cartoon Violence"]] short, each time using circling stars with the sound effect of birds. Adam falls victim twice, once after being punched and once after being hit with a FryingPanOfDoom. Ollie also gets them, along with a CranialEruption, after Adam bonks him with a hammer.
* Footballer Billy Wingrove of the F2Freestylers [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDLI0nwsnYw&list=FLNuVJ7pUoygqwjUIiK58nzw&index=1 sees circling stars]] during a video in which the guys are trying to score penalty kicks while dizzy.
* YouTube stars Kian Lawley and JC Caylen used the stars version on themselves in the thumbnail [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_fX2TmZegY for the video]] in which they attempt the dizzy challenge.
* In a video with Spongebob in the real world, a kid who says that spongebob is not real, and sees spongebob, he runs into the school hall and runs straight first into a wall, then he falls to the ground, and he sees circling Spongebobs circling his head, laughing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* This is a common gag in ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'':
** In ''Astérix and the Great Crossing'', a KO'd native American sees [[http://storage.canalblog.com/56/25/761447/58713706.jpg american stars.]] In the same book, another native American sees all the stars from the American flag.
** In another book, an Egyptian sees hieroglyphs of birds.
* ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' will sometimes have Archie dazed after a fight, and seeing, not just basic birds, but rather specific ones, such as Red-Winged Blackbird or Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, twittering and circling his head.
** One instance has Dilton fall off a skateboard while listening to headphones, commenting on how the track suddenly sounds like birds chirping.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Examples from Fanfic/{{the Calvinverse}}:
** In ''Fanfic/RetroChill'', Hobbes gets socked by [[EvilKnockoff Evil Calvin]] and sees "a bunch of stars, planets, tweety birds and somewhere in the deeper recesses of his brain, he heard a harp playing for no apparent reason."
** ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
*** Socrates sees stars, checkers, and [[Disney/{{Dumbo}} little pink elephants with umbrellas]] after getting thrown at a tree.
*** Hobbes later sees stars after bashing a cage containing Calvin's parents open.
* ''Fanfic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn'': Fie-Doe sees birds after Roh-Ver beats him up at one point. Then he hits him again, and they change into stars.
* ''FanFic/EarthAndSky'': After Soarin' finally kicks [[{{Jerkass}} Shootin' Star's]] flanks, the latter sees miniature Soarins circling his head while hitting bells with sledgehammers.
* To put this straight, [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7974078/11/Carry-On-Blissey Chapter 11]] of ''Carry On, Blissey'', there is one part where Matron Blissey mentions imagining seeing stars around her head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** In the novel ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', one of the minor side-effects that the motion picture industry has on the Disc's flexible reality level is that tweeting birds appear over the head of a wizard with concussion.
** In the ''Science of Discworld'', Ridcully mentions a wizard who "died of planets" (which presumably orbited his head).
* In ''Search The Sky'', by Creator/FrederikPohl and Creator/CyrilKornbluth, there's a scene where Ross is made to TalkToTheFist.
-->He brought up a roundhouse right, and Ross saw the stars and heard the birdies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* A cartoonized version of Music/CyndiLauper experiences these when she's thrown from a motorcycle during the animated sequence in "She Bop".
* Aaron Carter's music video for "That's How I Beat Shaq" uses bird sound effects near the end after Aaron's mother asks him whether he had hit his head.
* 2-D from ''Music/{{Gorillaz}}'' sees stars and a few other symbols circling his head twice after being violently shook in the short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQpvb2oc2B4 "Hey, Our Toys Have Arrived."]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* The playfield for ''Pinball/TheChampionPub'' has these circling elements regarding K.Os.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In the video "Cucumbers" by Weebl, a cucumber attacked by a panda has stars circling its head.
* ''WebVideo/TheAnnoyingOrange'': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXX1ltl94E Orange gets hit on the head by Cantaloupe,]] and has stars flying around his head. Then two cartoon-like birdies turn up complaining that the stars are stealing their jobs. Later, Midget Apple gets hit on the head as well, and the stars turn up again. But this time, the birds get ''really'' angry and start beating up the stars.
* Happens to Strong Bad at the end of the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' animation "Marshmallow's Last Stand" as a result of him being tripped by Homestar for ripping up the star on his shirt after a fight. Homestar then takes one of the stars circling Strong Bad's head and places it on his own shirt.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** In the "Yellow" trailer, when Yang knocks Junior across the room with a punch, he has hearts circling his head.
** In the episode "Players and Pieces" when Jaune collides with Ruby, knocking her against a tree. However, wolves are used instead of birds (complete with barking sounds).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' features D.W. receiving a new bicycle and attempting to ride it. After she crashes into an obstacle, the birds circling her head are seen as miniature versions of the Tibble twins.
* Cartoon cats who see Circling Birdies sometimes swat at them as though they were real.
* It is definitely easier to list those WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes shorts that ''don't'' use this trope. Among those that do:
** In "Daffy Goes Hollywood", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck tries to get past a studio guard in order to see movie stars. At the end, the guard decides to help him see the stars -- by hitting Daffy over the head with his nightstick. Daffy then calls the "stars" by name: "There's Alexis Smith, and Dorothy Lamour... Sufferin' succotash! It's Ann Sheridan!" and even gives one a kiss.
** In "Rabbit Hood", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny [[KarmicTrickster tricks]] the Sheriff of Nottingham by telling him that the [[LookBehindYou king is coming]], and then hitting him over the head when he turns and bows. The Sheriff then sees little kings walking around his head, leading to the classic line, "Odds-fish, the very air abounds in kings."
** The Road Runner short "Going! Going! Gosh!" has Wile E. Coyote getting run over by a truck, then having little miniature trucks circling his head in place of birds or stars.
** In "Baseball Bugs", one of the Gashouse Gorillas is knocked out, and surrounding his head are four little baseball players with angel wings, tossing baseballs among themselves.
** In "Yankee Doodle Bugs", Bugs visits Betsy Ross to check on the progress of the new U.S. flag. Feeling the blue field is too plain, he paces around the lawn trying to think of something to "snap it up a bit"... and carelessly [[RakeTake steps on a rake]]. Pointing to the resulting stars orbiting his head, he asks, "Hey, Betsy, does this give you an idear?"
** "A Pizza-Tweety Pie" definitely satisfies the "cartoon cats" criterion above.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror" version of ''The Raven'', Homer runs into a wall and falls down with tiny Bart Ravens circling his head saying "Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore!" Bart himself experiences this trope in a later "Treehouse of Horror" spoof of ''Nightmare on Elm Street''. In his dream, after being hit with a Frisbee, birds circle his head while [[WingdingEyes "No Sale" signs]] pop up in his eyes.
** Also seen in the Season 20-present CouchGag, in which Jebediah's statue's head falls on Ralph's. One of the things he says after being hit is, "I see stars!"
** In A season 26 episode, Maggie befriends some animals and recruits them to save an opossum from a dog. During the fight, a bird knocks the dog away, and the dog sees circling chirping birds around his head. But then the dog hits back, and the bird ends up seeing circling barking dogs around his head.
* ''WesternAnimation/DragonBooster'': The title character comedically falls down a pipe, and when he hits the ground, a bunch of curvy stars -- his personal emblem -- circle his head.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Survival of the Idiots", Patrick gets hit in the head and sees chicken drumsticks.
* Whenever someone gets dizzy in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', be it from [[AnvilOnHead any]] [[CrashIntoHello kind]] of [[AmusingInjuries amusing blunt trauma]] or [[NauseaFuel motion sickness]], the character will have stars circling their heads for a short while.
** Lampshaded in "Daring Don't"; when Rainbow runs into a tree where Fluttershy is helping some baby birds in their nest learning to fly, the chicks fly and circle around Rainbow's dazed head.
* Clover gets the spinning stars and planets with the sound of chirping birdies variant in "The Play's the Thing" on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' while being spun around in a barber's chair.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', where animal lover/killer Elmyra gets trapped in the mall after closing time. At one point she gets hit on the head, send birds flying around her head. Then Elmyra grabs one of the birds and hugs it, which also has smaller mini-birds circling around ''its'' head.
* Normally in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoon, BlankWhiteEyes are used. However, circling stars were used in the episode "Switched" when [[spoiler:Puppetmaster-controlled]] Robin accidentally hit himself with his own baton.
** Used much more frequently in the decidedly more cartoony series "Teen Titans Go!"
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosSuperShow Super Mario World]]'' cartoon, Mario gets hit in the head while trying to find something useful in the blocks. Due to this, when he does find something (a feather), he's too dazed to be able to catch it. He then grabs one of the stars circling his head, and is able to use it as if it were [[InvincibilityPowerUp a Starman powerup]].
** It also happens on the ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' episode "Pirates of the Koopa", when Mario asks for a star which is circling the parrot's head after he bumped it on the top of the crow's nest.
* Played with in the WesternAnimation/PixarShort ''Day and Night'', whose characters have scenes visible inside them. When Day gets hurt, birds are seen flying inside his head.
* The cartoon versions of Chris and Martin Kratt often experience this in their animated series ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts''. The circling creature usually corresponds to whatever critter they're following that day. For example, after a fall from a tree in one episode, Chris sees circling lizards. Another episode features Chris seeing circling walruses and Martin seeing circling polar bears after a blow to the head.
* In WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries, in the episode "Never Say Nefir", flying rhinoceroses circle Aladdin's head after he's hit with a tranquilizer dart.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' experiences this frequently. In one instance, he sees tiny versions of his dream girl Rose running around his head after being knocked silly by a locker door. Jake's buddy Spud sees circling fish in another episode after a chair the throws boomerangs back on him.
* Done all the time in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', but was invoked in "The Luck of the Ed", when Ed was trying to recount what happened when he lost Eddy's magazines:
-->'''Ed:''' Then I hit my head on that branch--\\
''(Ed smacks into a tree branch, then walks around to the other side of the tree)''\\
'''Ed:''' Nope. Sorry. It was this one.\\
''(Ed smacks his head on the other tree branch.)''\\
'''Ed:''' [[InvokedTrope Then I gazed at the stars...]]
** [[spoiler: Eddy's Brother]] has circling stars when he's defeated.
** A Creator/CartoonNetwork channel bumper/ident involved the Eds running at and into each other. As they fall down, a star appears above each one of their heads, and Ed remarks, "I see stars..."
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' and was invoked in the episode "Tails Prevails" by Tails, who is at a junkyard searching for items to be used a gift for Sonic. After an unstable pile of junk falls on his head, the resulting circling birdies prompt Tails to remark that he needs to add wings to Sonic's gift.
* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Home Adrone". Stan tosses a young man from a moving vehicle during a Chinese New Year parade, and after rolling down the street, the man sits up with tweeting birds, stars and other assorted objects circling around his head. The shot then zooms out to reveal the a boy is spinning a mobile above the man's head and blowing a whistle to make the bird sounds.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KidVsKat'', this trope was experience in some episodes; however, Kat (aka Mr. Kat) has experienced this in some episodes being the only ones with Kat with the trope; for example, in ''Never Cry Sheep'', when Coop slams a trash can on Kat, Kat has stars circling his head.
* Happens on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. [[CanineCompanion Cerbee]] chases them off.
* Used several times in the ''Music/NewKidsOnTheBlock'' cartoon series. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmkfk4EN6JQ&feature=related this episode,]] when Jonathan is knocked out by a falling surfboard, he hears tweeting birds and sees tiny surfers around his head (he then develops amnesia and thinks he's a pro surfer). After Donnie is thrown from a horse, he sees miniature versions of himself on horseback circling his head. The New Kids' bodyguard Bizcut sees circling music notes when dazed in another episode. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyFh1ctqLu0&feature=related this episode,]] Danny hears tweeting birds after a hard fall.
* The ''Franchise/CareBears'' series used this trope frequently, especially in the Nelvana episodes. Beastly, Grumpy Bear, Braveheart Lion and Champ Bear were its most frequent victims, but most of the bears and Care Bear Cousins experienced it at one point, as did one of the kids the bears were trying to help. The show usually used stars but sometimes threw in other circling objects, most notably when [[EvilSorcerer No Heart]] saw circling bats after being knocked out by Grumpy.
* In the old cartoon ''Spy vs. Spy'' episode, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkrwI-WthnI&feature=related "Beach"]], a bird circles the black spy's head after running into a wooden stake (in which the white spy was able to get a photo from a woman to trick the black spy into running into the wooden stake.)
** Also happens in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdXU2bqws8&NR=1 "Wall"]], in which the white spy gets circling stars after getting smacked by a fence. (Strangly enough, stars also circle the hand at the begining of the episode when the white spy punches the brick wall.) Also, in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DJy_66aV9A&feature=related "Basketball"]], at the begining of the episode, the black spy enters the scene in which the white spy notices the black spy and screws up, in which, as a result, the basketball hits the white spy in the head. Bird sound effects then play, as the white spy staggers in a daze, right before the black spy steals the ball. Also, in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_1Y5QO0hQ4&NR=1 "Toliet Plunger"]], the white spy sees circling birdies after a hit to the head with a toliet plunger, with a rock attached to it to make it look like as if it were a HAMMER.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', the sign in front of The [[Film/ASpaceOdyssey HAL]] Institute for Criminally Insane Robots has birds circling above it.
** In the Futurama Holiday Spectacular, Fry sees spinning Christmas, er, Xmas ornaments after Robot Santa clubs him with a candy cane.
* Music/{{Eminem}} -- in his "normal" form of Marshall Mathers, rather than his Slim Shady alter ego -- sees circling birdies with a side dose of a CranialEruption after being thrown from a mechanical bull in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrTLj_fKW0I&feature=related second episode]] of his animated series "The Slim Shady Show."
* In ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'' episode "Flicker Rock", Snidely Whiplash pushes a big rock down on Dudley's head with no effect of killing him, but causes Dudley to deal the episode of seeing things like birds and trains that aren't there.
* The title character of ''Zeke's Pad'' sees circling pancakes twice after mishaps during gym class in the series's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQvQ28W8JBE first episode]]. Zeke had eaten a lot of pancakes for breakfast, resulting in numerous slips and falls during gym.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'', Randy sees various food items circling his head after being tossed into a food cart.
* Happened quite a few times on ''WesternAnimation/{{Mr Bogus}}'':
** Happens to Bogus, while he's dressed as an Eskimo in the first act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS1E8NoSnoozeIsGoodNews No Snooze Is Good News]]", but he sees ice cream cones circling his head, as he grabs one and eats it.
** At the end of the first act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E2BabysittingBogus Babysitting Bogus]]", Bogus sees winged babies circling his head after getting hit on the head by the baby's milk bottle.
** In the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E5BadLuckBogus Bad Luck Bogus]]", Bogus sees stars circling around his head after hitting the ground from missing landing on the couch.
** Bogus sees buses circling around his head after landing inside the video store in the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E6TotallyBogusVideo Totally Bogus Video]]".
** This also happens to [[CardCarryingVillain Baddus]] after landing in a tree in the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E8BogusToTheRescue Bogus To The Rescue]]", but instead of birds, he sees [[ItMakesSenseInContext winged Boguses]].
** It happens to Bogus once again in the second act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS3E3WaterboyBogus Waterboy Bogus]]", after RunningIntoTheWindow trying to get into the penguin exhibit, but sees penguins circling his head.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'' special bridging the first two seasons, birds circle Courtney's head after she slams into a camouflaged wall. She [[MediumAwareness shoos the birds away]], prompting one of them to angrily chirp back at her.
** Mike gets the stars variety after being hit on the head by a club in the season four episode "Grand Chef Auto."
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'', Todd sees stars after a fall. Mrs. Jewls then told Todd to get his head "out of the stars," and it turns out that the stars were really on a project involving a globe.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Emperor Joker", after Jokermite hits Batmite over the head, Batmite sees bats circling his head. Later, after Batmite knocks out Jokermite, the latter sees flying joker fish circling his head.
* In the Creator/DisneyXD series ''WesternAnimation/PackagesFromPlanetX'', lead character Dan sees circling soccer balls after a hard fall during a soccer game.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BeverlyHillsTeens'', Pierce [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I1yfTUd_S8 gets circling birdies after a fall]], coupled with a case of IdentityAmnesia. Oddly enough, the episode was about a blow to the head causing amnesia for Bianca, but she escaped the trope. In other episodes, both Gig and Wilshire experiences the circling stars version of the trope.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' episode "Queen What's Her Name" after Princess Whatshername throws Queen Slugforabutt against a wall, the queen sees little winged Earthworm Jims circling her head.
* Used fairly frequently in ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski'', usually with stars or just a plain circling line. The hard-luck Kick is the most frequent victim. In the episode "Free Gunther," he experiences it about a dozen times in a row while sustaining repeated blows from Magnuson's hammer.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Reguarding Stuie" after Stu hits his head on a robot duck weathervane and falls off the roof he sees stars and ducks spinning around his head.
* The WWE's kid-friendly series of animated shorts "Slam City" uses the stars version on occasion. CM Punk, for example, see circling stars during his battle with The Miz.
* When Captain Caveman from ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'' gets hit on the head he'll often see pterodactyls circling around his head.
* In the "Frapp Attack" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', Cleveland Jr. remarks that he'd rather get hit with a mallet than attend Duke. He proceeds to hit himself, and as birds circle his head, he adds that his preferred sport is bird-watching.
* CM Punk (or, more accurately, CM Punk Rock) hears birds and sees stars after Barney knocks him headfirst into a turnbuckle in "The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown."
* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTalesInTheHouse'' episode "Laura at Bat" had this happen to Jimmy Gourd after getting beaned in the head by a ball while he was announcing the climactic ball game. In this case, however, he sees baseballs circling his head.
* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Donald's Goofy World" has Donald being knocked out with tiny Goofy heads going "A-hyuck!" circling over him. When he regains consciousness, he kicks them away.
* At the beginning of the 1963 Disney TV special ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Inside Outer Space]]'', Professor Von Drake falls off his high seat wiole stargazing from his observatory and lands on the floor, getting stars over his head.
-->'''Von Drake:''' I don't know about you, but I just saw stars I've never seen before!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' cartoon "The Barber Of Seville'' when Woody shrinks an Indian Cheif's headdress he chases Woody with his tomahawk trying to scalp him, Woody responds by hitting him on the head with a mallet he then sees little birds with turkey feathers on their heads doing the stereotypical war whoop.
* On ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'', Zak gets spinning stars around his head around the beginning of "Calling Dr. Zak" after he and Wheezie shoot out of their knuckerhole really fast and land right on their bottom.
* In "''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'''s Halloween Party" a party guest is hit in the head by an apple on a string and sees one big star, while a gatecrasher sees multiple stars when devil ghosts hit him with their pitchforks.
* On ''Nature Cat'', when the TalkingAnimal characters are walking through the woods on the way to a Talking Blue Jay's music concert, Nature Cat gets bonked on the head and sees circling ''blue jays''.
[[/folder]]

* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wai9CnvatBo&t=12m12s this]] episode of ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'', Bugs Bunny drops an avail on James Rolfe's head, and James sees Tweety Birds around his head and swats them away in anger.

* {{Smosh}} has a parody called "Pokémon In Real Life" starring Anthony [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzy9D_YKxso&t=1m32s This part]] has a scene of Anthony noticing Jigglypuff hiding in a bush after being put to sleep by the song. Anthony then [[spoiler: finds a brick]] and yells, "TAKE THIS!!!" Then, he [[spoiler: throws the brick at said bush]] and it hits Jigglypuff '''in the head''', and Jigglypuff staggers in a daze as it hears bird sound effects, and Anthony has the chance to engage battle with Jigglypuff.

!!Example subpages

[[index]]
* CirclingBirdies/{{Advertising}}
* CirclingBirdies/{{Anime and Manga}}
* CirclingBirdies/AnimatedFilms
[[/index]]

----

[[folder: Live Action Films]]
* Fred Flintstone sees circling pterodactyls after [[spoiler:Barney punches him due to a misunderstanding involving embezzling at Slate Co.]] in the live-action film version of the ''Film/TheFlintstones'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roEjpll8_gA as seen here]].
* Happens to George too many times to count in the two ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' films. One of the henchmen in the first film also hears birds after a punch, and Shep the elephant also sees circling stars and after unsuccessfully trying to use his head as a battering ram in the sequel.
* Brendan Fraser is in a class by himself for this trope. Not only does he experience it about a half a dozen times as George, but he also hears tweeting birds in the live-action film version of ''Film/DudleyDoRight'' and a cut scene from ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction.''
* ''Film/SpaceJam''
** Michael Jordan sees circling birdies -- more accurately, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS_bR0X2-8o circling golf balls with bird wings]] -- after a hard fall.
** Granny gets to see circling Tweety birds after being dog-piled by the Monstars.
* Animated birdies and stars circle Joe Torry's head after his character is punched in the comedy ''Sprung''.
* In ''The Scene,'' Jimmy Fallon hears tweeting birds after running head-first into a bus.
* In ''Gremlins'', BigBad Stripe hears tweeting birds after getting knocked out moments before he sees the fountain.
* In ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', Miss Piggy has birds circling as she sees Kermit for the first time.
* In ''Film/TheToxicAvenger 2'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unTl2ABT8kY in one scene]], a japanese girl hears tweeting birds after getting punched in the face.
* Matt [=LeBlanc=] hears birds after getting knocked out by a car door in ''Ed.''
* In the live movie The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris, one of the {{Big Bad}}s, sees these after his laptop falls on his head.
* The 1967 musical "Half a Sixpence" uses tweeting bird sounds after Arthur (Tommy Steele) is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m22FpPKsQSs tossed through a roof during a musical number.]] Somewhat lampshaded, in that actual birds are escaping as a result of his crash, adding cooing pigeons to the cacophony of the usual high-pitched bird sounds standard for this trope.
* In ''Film/InspectorGadget'' after Gadget uses a grappling hook to trip a criminal you see stars circling his head before he falls unconscious.
* In ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'' after Ash accidentally raises the dead and he tries to put the skeletons back in the ground, at one point a bunch of skeletons punch him at the same time and you hear tweeting birds.
* At times, movie trailers will add in a bird sound effect that does not appear in the actual film.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU426QLhMqA This scene]] from ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', for example, in which Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is knocked silly by his own shield while battling a knight, included bird sounds in one of the film's trailers, though they were not used in the film.
** Bird sounds were used after Tracy Morgan was hit in the head in one of the Film/LittleMan trailers.
** A trailer for ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' used bird sounds when Rapunzel knocks out Flynn with a FryingPanOfDoom.
** Mitch Eakins hears birds after recovering from a faint in a trailer for the sequel to ''Film/EvilBong''.
* The lead character (played by Seth Adkins) in "Funky Monkey" stumbles and hears birds after getting tackled hard during a football game.
* The direct-to-DVD sequel of Film/TheLittleRascals uses bird sound effects frequently after comedic injuries. Alfalfa hears birds twice: once after crashing into a car, and once after getting a pounding during a wrestling match. Waldo hears birds after getting socked by a spring-loaded boxing glove, and his father hears them after being whacked by a stray golf club. Stymie hears birds after the gang's homemade streetcar crashes.
* The villain in Munchie Strikes Back hears birds after being bonked by a bowling ball.
* In Bio-Dome, Doyle (Stephen Baldwin) hears birds after a whack in the head by a book sends him flying across the room.
* In "A Talking Pony?!?," aka "A Pony Tale," Wesley (James Lastovic) hears birds after experiencing several blows to the head with a horseshoe. He later hears birds again when the shock of hearing a talking horse causes him to faint.
* In ''Film/{{Critters}}'' 2 when Ugg and Lee shoot up the restaurant to try to kill all the Crites inside, one of them while attempting to escape hits it's head on the door, it then hears birds tweeting as it sits there dazed, this then gives it the idea to get the others to work together to break down the door.
* Muscle-bound giant Yeti (played by Robert Maillet, aka wrestler The Kurrgan) hears birds after having his head smashed by a cinderblock in ''Film/BrickMansions''.
* Lucas (Alex Ashbaugh) hears birds after a headbutt in [[https://youtu.be/szct7r8lfc4 this scene]] from spoof film ''Film/{{Superfast}}''.
* Bridger Zadina hears birds after walking into a punch in [[https://youtu.be/_4JJvHDAYlk this scene]] in "Kids Vs. Monsters."
* In A Fairly Odd Summer, Vicky (played by Devon Weigel) sees birds when she gets knocked in the head and falls to the ground.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* Happens frequently on ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'' to characters following a head injury. At times, only the bird sound effects play, but other times animated birds and other objects circle the victims' heads. Recipients of the trope in the show include Ned, Billy Loomer, Cookie and Faymon Phorchin.
* Fittingly, Spike TV's ''Knockout Sportsworld'' often appends circling birds and stars around the heads of the athletes in its clips.
* Nickelodeon's ''{{Series/Roundhouse}}'' enjoyed playing with this trope. While injured actors usually only heard the bird sound effect, in the episode ''Disaster,'' a cast member spun a mobile of stars around Ivan Dudynsky's head after a fall, and a castmate remarks that she can tell he's injured because of the tweeting birdies. In another episode, Dudysky is clonked with an anvil and says that he sees "stars," as a castmate spins a mobile with cutouts of Cher, Whoopi Goldberg and other Hollywod big names around his head.
* Jimmy of ''Out of Jimmy's Head'' sees circling birdies a couple of times after being bonked with a mallet.
* A wrestler felled by Slater sees flashing stars, accompanied by bird sound effects, in ''SavedByTheBell''.
* The boys of ''Series/BigTimeRush'' sometimes experience this trope. [[TheDandy James]], for example, hears tweeting birds after a thrown shoe clonks him on the head in one episode. Carlos hears birds in the premiere episode when a shopping cart he's riding in slams into a car. Logan and Camille both hear birds in another epsisode, when they run towards each other in slow motion and crash hard. Logan, Carlos and James all hear birds in another episode, after dizzying themselves while spinning on a bat and falling. In the episode "Big Times Rides," James hears birds after crashing his motorcycle through a wall, and Logan and Carlos both hear birds when their wagon crashes into a car.
* On [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Amz8T7Qids this episode]] of his eponymous Nickelodeon series, Nick Cannon asks an animator to turn him into a cartoon. The animator obliges, drawing a sketch of Nick who gets hit with an IllogicalSafe, resulting in the trope. Nick then rethinks the wisdom of wanting to be a cartoon character.
** Happens to Nick in another episode, in which Nick gets knocked silly while trying to slide into home in a baseball game, leaving him on his back and hearing tweeting bird sound effects.
* Invoked in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. After running face-first into a door, J.D. remarks that he hit his head so hard he thought saw cartoon birds but then realized that he was just seeing the wallpaper in the pediatric ward.
* Tory from ''Series/MythBusters'' sees a ring of birds circling head his after being knocked out during a kickboxing match, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zYVybHyNbI as seen here]].
* On a segment on Popular Mechanics for Kids, animated stars appear and bird sound effects play after host Jay Baruchel is beaned with a baseball.
* ''YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' used a bird sound effect after a head injury on rare occasions. Alasdair, for one, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lw_x26gKag hears tweeting birds]] after a hard fall from the ceiling in the ''Wildlife/Animals'' episode. In one of the later episodes, Christian [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEHNjxbJ7EE hears birds]] after the coach hits him on the head with a baseball bat. Strangely, the show never used the sound during the caveman sketches, which usually centered on finding a way for the caveman dad to bash his kids in the head with a club.
* ''{{Unfabulous}}'' uses bird sounds in the episode "The Toot." In a [[DaydreamSurprise daydream sequence]], Addie imagines herself passing gas with enough force to send her boyfriend Jake flying. He crashes into a soda machine and looks dazed as bird sounds play and soda cans clonk him on the head.
* Mexico's version of the game show "Hole in the Wall" ("Aguas con el Muro") uses this trope on contestants who get knocked into the water. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbek2PMbJu4&feature=related this clip]], for example, singer Adrian Varela sees circling dolphins after his fall.
* ''Series/AmericanIdol'' used the bird sound effect in the audition phase of its 11th season when one contestant, Tyler Beach, banged his head on a low-hanging pipe when celebrating his golden ticket to Hollywood, as seen in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwQJyomFUzI this clip]].
* MTV's ''Room Raiders'' used bird sounds in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PJJF3BDn-A one episode]] after a contestant banged his head on the top of a canopy bed.
* During a stop-motion segment on a holiday episode of That70sShow, Kelso is struck by lightning, falls to the ground and hears tweeting birds, as seen in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKPOB0M7mGI&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=4&feature=plcp this clip]].
* Saban Entertainment's live-action shows in the 90s frequently used bird sound effects to indicate head injuries, particularly on the original PowerRangers series. The comedy relief characters -- primarily Bulk and Skull -- were the chief recipients, although they occasionally were used with villains or even occasionally the heroes. Saban's Beetleborgs took it a step further and often added animated stars after head injuries, usually to Flabber, although one of the heroes, Roland, also saw stars a few times.
* The Spanish soap Rebelde occasionally used bird sound effects after an injury. Unlike many shows, it was not confined to head injuries. One character, Miguel, heard birds when another character stepped on his hand.
* In an episode of ''ShakeItUp'', Deuce says before passing out: "Am I looking up? Because I see stars."
* On the "Driving Lessons" episode of ''LifeWithDerek," Ralph (Shane Kippel) gets knocked over and hears bird sounds. He then remarks about seeing stars on the ceiling.
* Happens to Dean twice in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Hunter Heroici." The plot centered around a comatose retirement home resident whose dreams of a cartoon world affected the reality around him. Dean first decides to test the theory by whacking himself on the head with a book, leaving him dazed and hearing tweeting birds. Later in the episode, the villain hits Dean with a frying pan several times, and he hears cuckoos. Additionally, in the episode "The Monster at the End of This Book," a meta-episode in which fanfaction is becoming reality, Dean experiences the stars variant in a somewhat lampshaded fashion. The fanfiction had a point that said "Dean saw stars." This became reality when Dean, having been hit by a car, comes to seeing stars before his eyes. He remarks on them, then it comes into focus revealing the stars actually are a pair of dangly star earrings worn by a lady helping him.
* On the ''Series/{{ANTFarm}}'' episode "Scavantger Hunt," Cameron sees miniature versions of Gibson circling his head after he's beaned with a bell. Disney used the episode as a sort of "Where's Waldo" game where viewers were supposed to count every appearance of Gibson, so the trope played into that.
* In one episode of ''LizzieMcGuire'', after Lizzie is knocked silly by her own locker door, the scene cuts to the cartoon version of Lizzie, who has stars and planets circling her head [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLu4rDEglg as seen here]] with some uh.. Cranial Eruption.
** Lizzie's brother Matt also experiences this trope a few times via sound effects, such as in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrTCv0QN9LE this episode]], when he unsuccessfully tries to break a board with his head.
* Fix-up television show ''BlindDate'' sometimes would animate birds [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5F6G1GRGKQ&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=5would or other objects]] around the head of an injured dater.
* In a segment on boxing, New York TV reporter and man-about-town Ben Aaron got knocked out by his female opponent, leaving him hearing cuckoos and seeing stars and images of the opponent's head circling his head. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9IkpYxYT6s&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA Here's the clip.]]
** Ben later suffered a similar fate after an encounter [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQ-VLkCZo8 with a sumo wrestler.]]
* ''BillNyeTheScienceGuy'' often would use bird sound effects after Bill or one of his kid helpers suffered a mishap. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7C9PKVeeQ In this clip,]] for example, a kid hears birds after being clonked with an apple. Frequently, this trope would occur after an OffscreenCrash.
* Sometimes used on the 90s version of Zoom. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGbx0dZHlr0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA In this clip]], for example, Zoom-er Kenny hears birds after a few mishaps during an exercise session. In another episode, a kid exploring the beach hears birds after being bopped with a football.
* In a fifth season episode of ''TheCosbyShow'', Theo's friend Mitchell (Don Reed) invokes this trope while doing an extended impression of a kung-fu movie, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv4bS7OQnIM as seen here.]] After feigning taking a few hits, Mitchell makes the sound effect of birds while moving his hand around his head. The bit was actually taken from a stand-up routine Reed was doing at the time.
* Billy (Billy Draper) of the Timmerman Brothers hears birds twice after slipping and falling on ice in ''Series/TheNakedBrothersBand'' Christmas special.
* In the ''SNL'' spoof music video "What Does My Girl Say," pictures of butts circle around Jay Pharoah's head.
* Spanish-language Cartoon Network sitcom "La CQ" frequently adds animated birds around the students' heads when they fall, get hit by a ball or suffer any other wide range of slapstick mishaps. [[TheCheerleader Jenny]] and [[Main/CloudCuckooLander Monche]] are the most frequent victims, though all of the main cast and much of the supporting cast experience it at one time or another.
* On a season 5 episode of Tosh.0, Daniel Tosh experiences this trope after recreating the classic cartoon gag of painting a tunnel on the wall and crashing head-first into it.
* Both JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake heard birds after crashing into one another during a sketch on an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club.
* In a segment on the U.S. version of "Big Brother 4," cuckoo sounds were played when Justin was bopped playfully by another contestant, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGbx0dZHlr0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA as seen here]].
** Many seasons later, on the U.S. version of "Big Brother 17," former contestant Caleb Reynolds experienced the trope when he came to host a challenge. Caleb broke a board [[Main/HardHead with his head]], and the next shot showed him looking dazed with animated stars around his head, [[https://youtu.be/AlWoYjkBodY?t=2m36s as seen here]].
* Tony Hawk heard bird sound effects after a crash on ''Series/MadTV''.
* In "A Changed Man" on ''Series/{{Medium}}'', Allison falls and hits her head. Bridgette asks if she saw stars, or planets, or these. Ariel tells her that they're only cartoons, [[DiscussedTrope Bridgette insists that they could be in real life too.]]
* The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange used this on rare occasions. In the episode "Welcome to My Fruitmare" Orange hits his head on a wall, then he sees stars with faces and falls asleep. In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthA_6s3Evo 2013 promo]], Broccoli drops a brick on Nerville's (Toby Turner) head while he is recording a voiceover. He falls and gets back up with oranges circling his head, and he comments on them.

[[folder: Theater]]
* The stage musical version of ''Disney/TheLionKing'' invokes this trope. At the end of ''I Just Can't Wait to be King'', the actor playing Zazu notices his bird puppet is gone. He asks, "Where is my bird?" before running smack into the wall at the side of the stage. Bird sound effects play as he staggers in a daze momentarily.
* Used in "Hot Shoe Shuffle," a West End musical about five Australian tap-dancing brothers. When the youngest brother, Slide, is [[TheDoorSlamsYou hit in the head by a door]], he does a vaudeville-style dazed stagger while bird sound effects play. Adam Garcia originated the role, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6c1PjYVUqo&feature=related as seen here.]]
* Used in the 2011 Broadway revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." In the "Grand Old Ivy" number, Finch (played first by Daniel Radcliffe and later by Darren Criss and Nick Jonas) is playing an imaginary football game and runs into a rather large player, which sends him flying in slow motion as bird sound effects play.
* The 2008 version of "Broadway Bares," a burlesque parody of Alice in Wonderland, used bird sound effects near the end when Alice (fittingly for this trope, played by Mary Birdsong) accidentally bonked herself with the Queen of Hearts' scepter. Earlier in the show, Alice hit herself repeatedly on the head with a book in frustration and, in a daze, mentioned seeing "bunnies" afterward, which ushered in the first appearance of the White Rabbit.
* In David Lindsay-Abaire's play "Fuddy Meers," the son Kenny mentions having cartoon birdies flying around his head when recalling abuse by his father, adding a small bit of levity to an otherwise serious scene.

* CirclingBirdies/LiveActionFilms
* CirclingBirdies/LiveActionTV
* CirclingBirdies/{{Theater}}

* CirclingBirdies/VideoGames

* CirclingBirdies/WebComics

* CirclingBirdies/WebOriginal

* CirclingBirdies/WesternAnimation

Occasionally, more idiosyncratic "satellites" will circle the character, usually related to either his/her personality or the task they was trying to accomplish when they was stunned. Unrelated to CirclingVultures, which foretell a [[MarkedToDie rather worse fate]] than a mild concussion.

An animated character who has been stunned, usually by blunt head trauma, will display a "halo" of twittering birds or twinkling stars orbiting his/her head at or above eyebrow level. Sometimes it's just circles or whirls spinning around. This is a cartoon representation of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene "seeing stars"]]. [[HardHead Upon recovery]], the character will usually brush them away with an impatient or brusque sweep of his/her hands.

Occasionally, more idiosyncratic "satellites" will circle the character, usually related to either his/her personality or the task he/she was trying to accomplish when he/she was stunned. Unrelated to CirclingVultures, which foretell a [[MarkedToDie rather worse fate]] than a mild concussion.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/Arthur'' features D.W. receiving a new bicycle and attempting to ride it. After she crashes into an obstacle, the birds circling her head are seen as miniature versions of the Tibble twins.

An animated character who has been stunned, usually by blunt head trauma, will display a "halo" of twittering birds or twinkling stars orbiting his head at or above eyebrow level. Sometimes it's just circles or whirls spinning around. This is a cartoon representation of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene "seeing stars"]]. [[HardHead Upon recovery]], the character will usually brush them away with an impatient or brusque sweep of his hands.

Occasionally, more idiosyncratic "satellites" will circle the character, usually related to either his personality or the task he was trying to accomplish when he was stunned. Unrelated to CirclingVultures, which foretell a [[MarkedToDie rather worse fate]] than a mild concussion.

* ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' will sometimes have Archie dazed after a fight, and seeing, not just basic birds, but rather specific ones, such as Red-Winged Blackbird or Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, twittering and circling his head.

* CirclingBirdies/{{Live-Action Films}}
* CirclingBirdies/{{Live-Action TV}}

* A cartoonized version of Cyndi Lauper experiences these when she's thrown from a motorcycle during the animated sequence in "She Bop".

** In the episode "Players and Pieces" when Jaune collides with Ruby, knocking her against a tree. However, dogs are used instead of birds (complete with barking sounds).

* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''
** Socrates sees stars, checkers, and [[Disney/{{Dumbo}} little pink elephants with umbrellas]] after getting thrown at a tree.
** Hobbes later sees stars after bashing Calvin's parents' cage open.

* Done in the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' episode "Players and Pieces" when Jaune collides with Ruby, knocking her against a tree. However, dogs are used instead of birds (complete with barking sounds).

* In ''SearchTheSky'', by Creator/FrederikPohl and Creator/CyrilKornbluth, there's a scene where Ross is made to TalkToTheFist.

[[/folder]]q

* In the video "Cucumbers" by Weebl, a cumcumber attacked by a panda has stars circling its head.

[[/folder]]