The new winner

The winner:

"I just gave him his life black!"

-- Mike Haas of Mooresville

The runners-up:

"I told you we'd cover the bills!"

-- Richard L. Bean, Charlotte, and Billy Grooms, Davidson

"Things always look darkest before Dawn."

-- Dale Stout, Colorado Springs, Col.

"It's easy to brush off!"

-- Carole Mills, Charlotte

"Our new strategy is survival of the slickest."

-- Elizabeth Damesek, Charlotte

These containment units are working!

-- Carol Dzvonik, Davidson

"Members of Congress, I give you the bird!"

-- with variations, from many readers

"I can't comment on this bird's health, I'm not an ornithologist."

-- with variations, from several readers

Correction:  June 21st runner-up winner Bill McGloughlin's name was misspelled.

Thank you for all your entries. As usual, feel free to discuss any of this in our "Comments" section.  Just click the blue link below this post and add your observations or additional captions!

Here's a selection of some of the other better lines we received:

"The duck stops here!"

"Don't you just hate these oilier-than-thou attitudes?"

"Even though I have to eat crow, I would prefer it unleaded."

"I guess what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander."

"Whatever....I just want my life back."

"I love the small people".

"Ok, you journalists can stop with all the sargassum. "

"Birds just mess up my yacht, anyway."

"Look what we're doing for the travel industry! Not so many birds to threaten airline safety!"

"The bird is the one that’s marinated, so why are you grilling me?"

"He has more experience with this than do I."

"We have something in common, a very large bill."

One is an oily bird brain. The other…a pelican.

Comments

[Ken]

I understand the winning caption, but I think the runnerup was better.

"I told you we'd cover the bills!"

[Kevin Siers]

Even if the judges agreed (and they ain't sayin'), I've never figured out how to award a tie. Richard Bean and Billy Grooms each submitted that caption separately. There's only one cartoon to give away. Would a coin toss be fair? Maybe a World Cup-like penalty shootout . . .

[Doug]

The quality of all the entries including the honorable mentions are very good this week. Kevin must have struck a chord or people have more time to ponder on summer vacation.