10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2015

The species was in the news because some scientists had finally managed (or bothered – it’s much the same thing) to locate the population high in the mountains of the Solomon Islands, and catch and photograph one. Unsurprisingly the ones that most stick in the mind were the lost species. Box after box of egg. Bush Wrens.

Collecting 268

Collecting Solomon Islands New Zealand Fiji 268

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

In fact, the Dodo belonged to a clade (sometimes called Raphini) of 15 remarkable, bizarre, intriguing island-adapted pigeons, some of which are still alive today, but eight of which have been hacked from the tree of life, driven to extinction by humans. The painting above is by 17th-century Flemish artist Roelant Savery.

Solomon Islands 279

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius 2006 279

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

One of the less well remembered awful things that happened in the Second World War (a six year period of history filled with an uncountable number of awful things) is that war’s direct role in the extinction of two species of rail. The loss of these two species was, in fact, no aberration, except in how late the extinctions were.

Hawaii 251

Hawaii Guam Mammals Fiji 251

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2011

If studying insects would lead you to suppose that God had an “an inordinate fondness for beetles&# , studying the pre-human avifauna of the Pacific would lead you to conclude that God was also quite partial to rails. How many species there were is probably lost to history, but there were certainly many hundreds.

Tonga 177

Tonga New Zealand Samoa Fiji 177