October 9, 2015 (Friday)
My dear friends, Dale and Ann Pogue, are bird watchers. They keep a record of each bird they see.
I heard about one this week that the Pogues have never seen. In fact, no one living today has ever seen it. It’s called the “Elephant Bird,” and it’s been extinct for 1,000 years.
What a bird it was, standing over 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,100 pounds. It lived on the island of Madagascar. It did very well before humans moved to the island. Even then it was revered by those people. Though they thought highly of the bird, they loved its eggs even more. Their eggs gave new meaning to the slogan, “One’s a meal.” In fact, one egg was much more than a meal. It fed human families many meals. Click here to see a picture of the bird and also an egg held by David Attenborough. Attenborough theorizes that the theft of its eggs and the loss of its habitat, also attributable to human activity, were responsible for the extinction of the Elephant Bird.
I learned of this by watching the PBS Show, “Nature,” this week. Title of the episode was, “Big Birds Don’t Fly.” It documented the habits of several bird species which do not fly, including two that are very familiar to us: the Ostrich and the Emu.
If this bird were not extinct today, can you imagine the excitement for a bird watcher who might have seen one? He/she would be telling everyone and probably writing books about it.
The theory behind the movie, “Jurassic Park,” is that extinct species can be brought back if some of their genetic materials can be found. I can hardly wait. I’m keeping my binoculars ready. If you see one of these 10-feet tall critters, give me a call. I’ll tell Dale.