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 There is a certain amount of controversy over whether or not the Pink-headed Duck of north-eastern India still survives. Probably it does not, but there are those who believe it might and every few years or so an expedition goes in search of it. Thus far none of these expeditions has proved successful. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/anseriformes-anatidae-pink-headed-duck-rhodonessa-caryophyllacea
Jul 01 2011
The story The Labrador Duck is one of the most mysterious of North American birds. It was always uncommon, shy and wary and for these reasons seems to have been little affected by shooting. Reasons for its extinction are unknown but one school of thought suggests that it was a very specialized feeder unable to …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/anseriformes-anatidae-labrador-duck-camptorhynchus-labradorius
Jul 01 2011
The story The Hawaiian honeycreepers form one of the most striking illustrations of adaptive radiation, but, unfortunately, so many of them are extinct that the example is now historical rather than living. At some point in prehistory an ancestral honeycreeper stock somehow arrived at the Hawaiian Islands and found a situation that was ripe for …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/passeriformes-drepanididae-kona-grosbeak-chloridops-kona
Jul 01 2011
The story The Piopio, or New Zealand Thrush, may have been two species rather than one. Two quite distinct kinds existed, and they are usually regarded as races of the same species: nominate capensis of the South Island; and race tanagra of the North Island. There are good reasons for supposing that they should be …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.planetofbirds.com/passeriformes-turnagridae-piopio-turnagra-capensis
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