Roger HarrisExtinction
May 30th 2008 11:38
This species is one of around twenty-four species of birds fron the island of Mauritius to become extinct. There were forty-five bird species native to the island originally, but now only twenty-one species are still in existence there.
This bird, a member of the pigeon family, weighed around fifty pounds, larger than an average Thanksgiving turkey. The bird could not fly. The first Europeans to see them were Portuguese explorers in 1505. The birds were destroyed by 1681. Mankind helped to drive them to extinction as did wild dogs, pigs, monkeys and rats.
There were no cameras back then, of course. Artists attempted to produce images which looked like the birds. One of them is below.
Do you know the name of this bird? Or are you a dodo?
This bird, a member of the pigeon family, weighed around fifty pounds, larger than an average Thanksgiving turkey. The bird could not fly. The first Europeans to see them were Portuguese explorers in 1505. The birds were destroyed by 1681. Mankind helped to drive them to extinction as did wild dogs, pigs, monkeys and rats.
There were no cameras back then, of course. Artists attempted to produce images which looked like the birds. One of them is below.
Do you know the name of this bird? Or are you a dodo?
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Comment by wilson-pon
Did you know? The largest bird's that ever exist on Earth, known as the "Terror Bird" most striking feature—literally— was its giant nose, a roughly 18-inch (46-centimeter) beak with a sharp, curving hook shaped like an eagle's beak.
Comment by Roger Harris
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I am not aware of the bird you mentioned. What is its name?