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Heaviest Bird Ever Alive - Elephant Bird

The Elephant Bird (shown above under biggest eggs) is thought to have been the inspiration for the Roc (or Ruhk) made famous in the stories of Sinbad and the accounts of Marco Polo. While Aepyornis was by no means as large and terrible as the elephant-eating Roc, it WAS one of the largest birds that ever lived. The flightless bird grew to around ten or eleven feet tall, and is estimated to have weighed up to 1100 pounds. By comparison, a BIG Ostrich will go eight feet and 300 pounds. The home of the Elephant Bird was the island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. The island was first populated by African and Indonesian peoples that are thought to have arrived around the time of Christ, about 2000 years ago. They were, in turn, visited by Muslim traders from East Africa and the Comoro Islands in the ninth century. The first Europeans to visit the island were the Portuguese in 1500, but Europeans didnt really establish a foothold on the island until the French settled there beginning in 1642. The Elephant Bird was probably still around at that time but it had already become very rare. One of the only contemporary European accounts of the bird was written by the first French Governor of Madagascar, Étienne de Flacourt, who wrote, in 1658, "vouropatra - a large bird which haunts the Ampatres and lays eggs like the ostriches; so that the people of these places may not take it, it seeks the most lonely places." The natives histories of the Elephant Bird, however, rarely describe it as an aggressive bird, and more often portray it as a shy, peaceful giant. Most likely the Vouron Patra was driven to extinction by people raiding their nests. The eggs and egg shells were both very important items to the tribal Malagasy, who used them for food and all kinds of stuff. The fossil record shows that maximus was not the only species of Aepyornis that ever lived. It is thought that between three and seven different types of Elephant Bird have lived since the Pleistocene although only one, the smaller Aepyornis mullerornis is thought to have survived into historic times along with the Elephant Bird. Only the giant is known to have co-existed with humans, and by 1700, it too was gone.

Only the largest of the New Zealand Moas were taller, some reaching thirteen feet, but they werent as massively built. Moa were large flightless birds that went extinct in the late 1700s or early 1800s. These huge, bulky birds lived in lowland forests on the islands of New Zealand. The word moa comes from the Maori language, in which the plural of moa is moa (we are using that convention). The oldest-known moa fossils date from 2.4 million years ago. The last of the moa (the smaller species) lived on the South Island of New Zealand until the 1700s. On its native New Zealand, there were no large mammals to prey on the moa or its eggs; its only predators large birds, like the Haast eagle (which is now extinct). When the Maori people moved to New Zealand over 1,000 years ago, they destroyed much of the moas lowland forest habitat and introduced mammals, including dogs and rats. These mammals ate the moas eggs. The Maori people also hunted and ate the moa. These forces probably contributed to the extinction of the moa. The moa had a large body, a small head, a long neck, short, thick legs, and a large beak. There were 11 species of moa. The largest was almost 11.5 feet (3.5 m) tall and weighed perhaps 700 pounds (320 kg); the smallest of the moa were turkey-sized. The moas nest was located on the ground (leaving the eggs vulnerable to predators). The moa was an herbivore (plant-eater); it ate fruit and some plant material (like leaves). These birds swallowed stones (which went into gizzard) that helped digest the food. Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata (vertebrates), class Aves (birds), order Dinornithiformes, family Anomalopterygidae (the lesser moa) and family Dinornithidae (the greater moa). There were 11 (or possibly 13) different species of moa, including Dinornis, the biggest moa and the biggest bird that ever lived.

In ancient Australia, until 50,000 years ago, there was a group of birds called the Dromornithids. By far the largest of them was "Dromornis stirtoni", a massive creature that stood 3 meters tall and must have weighed more than half a ton. They disappeared rather abruptly, and there is still much debate about the reasons. But the Australians seem to have kept a memory of these giant birds. In some legends, there is a creature called "mihirung", and most likely this means a dromornithid bird.

Smelliest Bird

The south American hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) has an odor similar to cow manure. Colombians call it pava hedionda ("stinking pheasant"). The cause of the smell is believed to be a combination of its diet of green leaves and its specialized digestive system, which involves a kind of foregut fermentation.

Large Flocks

Flamingoes, with their long necks and legs, have a height range of 3-5 feet and are the biggest bird to form large flocks. Of the four species, the lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) of eastern and southern Africa has been seen in flocks of several million birds, particularly in the Great Lakes of eastern Africa.

Biggest Bird

The largest and strongest living bird is the North African ostrich (Struthio camelus . Males can be up to 9 feet tall and weigh 345 pounds, and when fully grown the have one of the most advanced immune systems of any animal. South Africa was the first country to see the commercial potential of ostrich products - the creature are prized not only for their large soft white feathers and their meat but also for their skins, which are made into the strongest commercially available leather in the world. Ostrich farming is believed to have begun in the Karoo and Eastern Cape c. 1863. By 1910 there were more than 20,000 domesticated ostriches in the country, and by 1913 ostrich feathers were the fourth most important south African export product. Demand began to dry up soon afterwards, but there was an ostrich revival in the 1920s when farmers started to produce biltong ( dry strips of ostrich meat) commercially.

Biggest Seabird
(contribution by Jacob Casson)

The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora sanfordi) with a wing span 3 metres, flight speed up to 115 km/h. 80% of life spent at sea. White body, black on backs of wings. Feeds on surface shoaling fish and squid. Male and female equal share in rearing chick, raising one chick every two years. Mature at six years, live about 45 years. Mate in October, one egg laid in November, incubation 79 days. Chick guarded for first six weeks, young depart late September.

Biggest ****atoo

Sub-species Proboscigar Aterimus Goliath. The weight of the female Palm ****atoo is between 500-950 grams, and the males weigh between 540-1100 grams. Both females and males height range from 49-68 centimeters. The wings are about 35.1 centimeters, the tail about 23.8 centimeters, the bill about 9.1 centimeters, and the tarsus about 3.5 centimeters. These Palm ****atoos are very large birds. They are the largest of all parrots. The scientific name is derived from both Greek and Latin. Proboscis is Greek for nose, gero is Greek for carry, and atterimus is Latin for black. Most Palm ****atoos are dark gray and black with a cheek-patch of bare red skin . The cheek skin color may change according to their level of stress, it may change pink or beige if it is stressed, or if it is excited it will turn yellow. Palm ****atoos have a very strong mandible, which they use for cracking nuts.

Most Abundant Bird

The red- billed quelea (Quelea quelea) of Africa has an estimated adult breeding population of 1.5 billion. The slaughter of at least 200 million of them each year has no impact on this number.

Rarest Bird

With 168 birds on the list of the worlds most critically endangered creaturesand many of them from remote, inhospitable placesresearchers cannot say for sure which species is the rarest. But that dubious distinction may belong to the poouli (pronounced "poh-oh-U-lee"). This Hawaiian honeycreeper, whose name means "black-faced," survives only in a few hundred acres of nearly impenetrable rain forest on the windward side of Mauis Haleakala Crater. At last count, the known poouli population was six. And with time running out, experts are scrambling to find a way to save the species from extinction.

Rarest Parrot

Spixs Macaw. Endemic to one small area of northeastern Brazil, in a habitat known as the "caatinga" (an arid region of flat savanna scrubland interspersed with seasonal creeks and gallery forests), the Spixs Macaw was considered to be extinct in the wild 10 years ago. Despite concerted efforts of the Brazilian government and an international committee whose members include the aviculturists that hold this endangered species, government officials, conservationists and ornithologists the last one died in 2001. The conservation of this species is now dependent on the success of the captive-breeding and field program. The global captive population has grown significantly from a low of 11 known birds to 60 (54 of which are captive-hatched); new holders are participating in the program, the field research program has collected valuable data on the natural history of this species and the ecology of the region, a strong community outreach program is in place, habitat protection and restoration projects are ongoing, and basic research on psittacine reintroduction techniques has been successfully completed. [contributed by Harold Armitage, Wild Macaws Wild Macaws]

Bossiest Bird

The kea ( Nestor notabilis) from New Zealand is the only bird known to have a society in which the higher status individuals force others to work for them.

Most Unusual Birds

• The home of the Great Indian Hornbill is a prison. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, she hides in a hole in a tree. The male then seals up the hole, leaving her just a narrow slit through which he passes her food. The female stays in there until the chicks are a few months old, when she breaks out and helps the male with feeding duties.
• The Secretary Bird may have long legs but it cant run. Instead it hops along the African scrublandin search of its staple diet of snakes and lizards. The bird gets its name from the 20 black crest feathers behind its ears which are reminiscent of the old quill pens once favored by secretaries.
• The Quetzal from central America has such a long tail (up to 3 feet) that it cant take off from a branch in the normal way without ripping its tail to shreds. So instead it launches itself backwards into space like a parachutist leaving an aircraft. The Quetzal nests in hollow trees but has to reverse into the hole. Once inside, it curls up its tail over its head and out of the hole.
• The Male Bower-Bird from Australia attracts a female by building an elaborate love bower. After building a little hut out of twigs, he decorates it with flowers and colorful objects such as feathers, fruit, shells, and pebbles or sometimes glass and paper if the nest is near civilization. One particular species (the Atlas Bower-Bird) actually paints the walls by dipping bark or leaves into the blue or dark-green saliva he secretes. The entire bower-building procedure can take months and the bird will often change the decorations until he is happy with them. When finally satisfied, he performs a love dance outside the bower, sometimes offering the female a pretty item from his collection.
• The Young Hoatzin of the Amazon forests has claws on its wings to help it clamber through the dense undergrowth. The bird is a throwback to the prehistoric archeopteryx, which also had three claws on each wing.
• The Little Tailorbird uses its sharp beak to pierce holes along the edges of two leaves. It then constructs a nest by neatly stitching the leaves together with pieces of grass.

 

-- Edited by Dj_Rubbut at 04:57, 2008-08-05

-- Edited by Dj_Rubbut at 13:06, 2008-08-09