Tag: Flightless

Tokara-Laubsänger / Tokara leaf warbler (Phylloscopus tokaraensis)
A singing male Tokara leaf warbler (Phylloscopus tokaraensis). The species is restricted to a few islands of Japan's Tokara Archipelago south of Kyushu. Such island endemics often occupy only very small habitats and are therefore especially vulnerable to environmental change. Image: Per Alström, Uppsala University, CC BY, via EurekAlert!

Hidden diversity: Four newly recognized bird species from 2026

Even today, new bird species are still being discovered and described, although birds are among the comparatively well-studied animal groups. In many cases, however, these are not completely unknown animals, but species that were overlooked or misclassified for a long time. Only modern methods such as genetic analyses and bioacoustic

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Historical depiction of elephant bird
Historical depiction of Aepyornis maximus. Our knowledge of the elephant birds’ external appearance is incomplete: there are no preserved specimens, only bone finds and eggshells. Reconstructions therefore rely on anatomical inferences and comparisons with modern ratites. (© http://www.50birds.com/gextinct5.htm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Aepyornis maximus – the largest elephant bird and the mystery of when it went extinct

There wasn’t just one elephant bird The elephant bird is probably one of the best-known of all extinct birds. Hardly any other animal so strongly embodies gigantism, enigmatic traditions, and the fascination of a world of animals that humans now know only in fragments. But the name already misleads: there

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Südinsel-Riesenmoa Kopf
Moas: An extinct avian world of New Zealand. (© Auckland Museum Collections from Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Moas: New Zealand’s extinct giant birds

The moa is among those extinct animals that continue to fascinate and disturb in equal measure. Not only because of its enormous size, but above all because its disappearance is comparatively recent. Just a few centuries ago, these flightless birds roamed the forests, moors, and grasslands of New Zealand. Today,

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Dodo reconstruction at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France
This replica of the dodo is the result of interpretative work based on historical and scientific research: accounts, depictions and bones. No taxidermied specimen of the species exists. The bird was created by the artist Camille Renversade and realised in collaboration with the museum’s taxidermy workshops. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, 2024)

Dodo – Dead as a dodo

The dodo, related to pigeons (Columbidae), is probably the best-known example of an animal species exterminated by humans. References to the bird in literature and painting are common—for example in chapter three of the children’s book Alice in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll or in the paintings of the Flemish

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Peter Jackson will Südinsel-Riesenmoa zurückbringen
This is what a South Island giant moa may have looked like—the extinct bird species is now set to be "brought back" using modern genetic engineering. The controversial project is supported by director Peter Jackson and the US company Colossal Biosciences.

De-extinction: Peter Jackson wants to bring back the extinct giant moa—scientists remain skeptical

New Zealand director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, Braindead) is supporting an ambitious project to revive the South Island giant moa. Together with the US biotech firm Colossal Biosciences, the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, and the Canterbury Museum, the flightless bird that went extinct in the 14th or

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Truffles (Gallacea scleroderma) and moas
Gallacea scleroderma: a truffle-like fungus endemic to New Zealand whose spores were once dispersed by moas and which plays a central role in the forest ecosystem. (© Zac Sanson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

What links extinct moas, colorful truffles, and climate change?

New Zealand, known for its unique wildlife and flora, holds many secrets from the past. One of them was revealed by a recent study in Biology Letters: the extinct upland moas (Megalapteryx didinus) were not only majestic birds, but also played a central role in dispersing colorful, truffle-like fungi such

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Stephenschlüpfer
The Lyall’s wren extinct less than ten years after humans settled Stephens Island. It is considered a classic example of the extinction of an island endemic with no natural defense mechanisms against invasive predators. (© Vertebrate Zoology Curator, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Human-Caused Species Loss: Global Impact Far Greater Than Expected

A study published in early October in the journal Science suggests that human-caused species loss has far-reaching consequences that were previously underestimated. The scientists highlight the fact that the extinction of bird species has not only wiped out ecological roles but also billions of years of unique evolutionary history. In

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Mecodema oconnori, verwandter des stephens-island-laufkäfer
Images of the Stephens Island Weevil are rare; the picture shows the ground beetle Mecodema oconnori, which belongs to the same genus. (© S.E. Thorpe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Stephens Island Weevil

From isolated paradise to endangered habitat Stephens Island, a small rocky island in the Cook Strait, is renowned for its unique wildlife. Despite covering only 1.5 square kilometers, the island boasts a remarkable ecosystem that was once home to numerous endemic species, including many land and seabirds. Among its notable

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traversia lyalli
The flightless Lyall's wren was a relatively small bird, with a total length of about ten centimeters. (© Avenue, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons)

Lyall’s wren

The tragic story of Lyall’s wren Like the dodo, Lyall’s wren is one of the best-known examples of the extinction of bird species, because the circumstances of its disappearance are as striking as they are tragic. The story of Lyall’s wren is often told with dramatic simplicity: a cat, brought

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Georg Forster: Image of the Tongatapu rail?
An illustration of the extinct Tongatapu rail, created between 1772 and 1775, by Georg Forster? (© George Forster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Tongatapu rail

The only specimen is now lost Quite a few bird species of the past were described from only a single specimen that is now lost. One of them is the Tongatapu rail. Of this rail species (family Rallidae), historical reports and descriptions have survived that are based on observations and

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