Friday 7 May 2010

Top 5 Flightless Birds

Something short and easy this week. A nod for the inspiration to Philip Ardagh's book of Absolutely Useless Lists. My eldest got it for Christmas and it's been a bit of a toilet reading hit for the whole family. Which might be more information than you really wanted.

1. Kakapo - Ground dwelling, critically endangered, New Zealand parrot. Numbers dropped to something around 50 in the late 80s and early 90s but conservation efforts have seen a gradual increase in numbers (120+ now).


2. Rockhopper Penguin - Penguins as a species are cool, and the Rockhopper the coolest of all. With it's bleach blond crested head the Rockhopper couldn't look more like a surfer without learning to drive a VW camper van.


3. Inaccessible Island Rail - Brilliantly named and smallest existing flightless bird. Another NZ inhabitant. Most other flightless Rails are now extinct but the Inaccessibleness of Inaccessible Island on which the Inaccessible Island Rail lives explains why this species has survived.


4. Kiwi - National symbol of New Zealand. Shy and nocturnal bird with five species that are all endangered to some degree.


5. Galapagos Cormorant - The only flightless Cormorant in the world. Benefits from the isolation of the Galapagos Isles but remains an endangered species.


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2 comments:

THOMAS said...

nice blog!
thomasbirds.blogspot.com

Chopper said...

Thank you Thomas.