Oct 28 2014
An interesting writing by Rajiv Kalsi, Rahul Kaul and S Sathyakumar. It was published as part of the ongoing study of Pheasants and allies in India. In my opinion the most complete paper-based search review for the elusive Himalayan Quail. I asked for permission by mail to publish on PoB, but have yet to receive …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/the-himalayan-quail-ophrysia-superciliosa-extinct-or-evasive
Aug 04 2014
This species is endemic to the tiny, fragmented forests of the Taita Hills, where it occurs in only four remnant patches, totalling less than 150 ha in area, on a single massif. It is also found in a larger patch of lesser disturbed forest on the adjacent massif of Mbololo. The Taita Hills are a …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/rarest-birds-in-the-world-taita-apalis-apalis-fuscigularis
Aug 03 2014
Bourns and Worcester in 1894 wrote the following account: We were so fortunate as to secure aseries of fourteen specimens of this rare horn-bill from Sulu and Tawi Tawi. The tail is pure white. All other parts black, the feathers of back and wings glossed with dark green. The bill in abult birds is coal …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/rarest-birds-in-the-world-sulu-hornbill-anthracoceros-montani
Aug 03 2014
Comments on the Glaucous Macaw were first published by Sanchez Labrador (1767) who wrote that the Guaa’-obi lived along the banks of the Uruguay River, and to a lesser extent, in the forest near the Paraguay River. The species was first described by Vieillot in 1816, as Anodorhynchus glaucus, based on the observations of Azara …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/rarest-birds-in-the-world-glaucous-macaw-anodorynchus-glaucus
May 22 2013
The great auk, now almost forgotten in the world by all except the ornithologists, is still remembered among the Penobscot as one of the legendary bird chiefs. While we may hesitate a moment in believing the strict identity of this now-extinct bird with the hero character in one of the creation tales, it nevertheless seems …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/the-great-auk-in-penobscot-folklore
Mar 03 2012
Story After 35 years, a giant fossil penguin has finally been completely reconstructed, giving researchers new insights into prehistoric penguin diversity. The bones were collected in 1977 by Dr. Ewan Fordyce, a paleontologist from the University of Otago, New Zealand. In 2009 and 2011, Dr. Dan Ksepka, North Carolina State University research assistant professor of …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/scientists-get-first-full-look-at-prehistoric-new-zealand-penguin-the-largest-ever
Jul 01 2011
The story This large and rather beautiful species, also known as the Bourbon Crested Starling, was characterized by an extraordinary lace-like crest. It was an inhabitant of the Mascarene island of Reunion (formerly called Bourbon). It was known locally by the name huppe, which is also the French name for the Hoopoe (Upupa epops). It …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/passeriformes-sturnidae-reunion-starling-fregilupus-varius
Jul 01 2011
The story The third extinct member of the genus Aplonis inhabited the islands of Norfolk and Lord Howe. Both these Tasman Sea islands have lost several of their endemic birds and the starling vanished during the first half of the twentieth century. The species has been divided into two races, the nominate from Norfolk Island …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/passeriformes-sturnidae-norfolk-starling-aplonis-fusca
Jul 01 2011
The story The remote Chatham Islands lie way to the south of New Zealand and here, in isolation, two species seem to have developed from an ancestral stock that resembled the Buff-banded Rail. The less evolved of these is Dieffenbach’s Rail, and this form seems to have developed from a comparatively recent invasion of the …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/gruiformes-rallidae-dieffenbachs-rail-gallirallus-dieffenbachii
Jul 01 2011
The story The Tanna Ground-dove is known today from just a single, rather crude, painting by Georg Forster that was produced during Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world. This painting is in the Forster portfolio at the Natural History Museum, London, and in the margin the following words are inscribed: Tanna, female, 17th August …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/columbiformes-columbidae-tanna-ground-dove-gallicolumba-ferruginea
