Top 10 Most Extraordinary & Endangered Birds Across the Globe
A brand new study has been released ranking the world’s top one hundred extraordinary and endangered bird species. The list includes a bird who has the capability to self-inflate, another who can decapitate its prey with skill and ease, as well as the world’s bulkiest parrot. A team of scientists from Simon Fraser University, Yale University, and the Zoological Society of London analyzed 9,993 species of birds from across the globe. The team observed how the birds lived, the risks involved in their environment, and how many living relatives they currently bear. The study is the first of its type and has been published in the most recent edition of Current Biology, highlighting the bird species that we should be concentrating protection efforts on first. Below you will find the top 10 most extraordinary and endangered birds in the world.
⇒ 1 The Giant Ibis
The Giant Ibis has been affirmed the most extraordinary and endangered species of bird in the world. Colored with a muted brown tone throughout their plumage, the Giant Ibis is usually a solid metre in height and weighs over four pounds. Indigenous to wide rivers, marshes, and cyclical meadows of water in Northern Cambodia, with the exception of a few Giant Ibis expanding over to Vietnam and Southern Laos. Astonishingly, almost nothing is recorded about these massive birds breeding habits and the scientists are estimating that there are only around one hundred breeding pairs left in the world. Continuous deforestations, hunting, and droughts are the major contributors to the rapid decline of the Giant Ibis species.
⇒ 2 The New Caledonian Owlet - Nightjar
The New Caledonian Owlet - Nightjar is considered the most illusory species of bird in the world, for it has not been witnessed alive since 1998. Found only in the New Caledonia humid forests, about 1,210 miles outside of eastern Australia, the New Caledonian Owlet - Nightjar is recognized from only two kept specimens. One specimen is the first ever found New Caledonian Owlet - Nightjar, which was identified in 1880, when it flew into a civilians window. The other was discovered in 1915. Throughout the years of 2002 until 2007, numerous expeditions have taken quest to sight a New Caledonia but none have successfully produced a sighting. It is estimated that there are as little as forty nine adult New Caledonia’s left in the world.
⇒ 3 The California Condor
There are many Native American tales told about the California condors. The most horrific tale recited by the Mono peoples of the Eastern Sierra, Central Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Mono Basin contains a literal bloodbath. Their legend states that the California Condor used to catch humans beings as a hunting tactic. Once a human being was caught the California Condor would then decapitate them in order to flood the dwellings of their prey. Thus, the Condor would catch the prey as it fled from its burrow but, the tale reveals that when the Condor would bend down to drink the blood, the prey would then cut off the Condor's head finishing the circle of life. The Native Americans also believed that if you wore the feathers of a Condor money would become attracted to you. Additionally, you would inherit the keen ability of the Condor’s perfect eyesight in order to find lost valuables. Presently, the decline of California Condors is attributed to its low reproduction rate, habitat destruction, poaching, and lead poisoning. A 2012 study published that the number one cause of young condor mortality is consuming garbage fed to them by their guardians.
⇒ 4 The Kakapo
The Kakapo is a highly endangered and gorgeous species of bird that originated in New Zealand. These birds are usually a bright forest green hue equipped with large talons and equally large beak. The Kakapo is one of the rarest parrots found in the world.
⇒ 5 The Kagu
The ghost of the forest, otherwise known as the Kagu is indigenous to the New Caledonian forest. The ashy white Kagu is practically flightless, and is the last living member of the complete Rhynochetidae clade. The Kagu may be the national emblem of Grand Terre, the biggest island of the New Caledonian isle, but that has yet to yield deforestation and the many cats, pigs, and dogs from targeting them as prey. The species has been steadily declining over the past twenty years.
⇒ 6 The Bengal Florican
The Bengal Florican is native to the open forests and grasslands of Cambodia but a small group can also be discovered over a thousand miles away at the mountain base of the Himalayas. The Cambodian government has presently secured six Conservation Areas for the Bengal Floricans in hope to protect the 138 miles of open forest and 173 miles of grassland that is home to the last one thousand adult Bengal Floricans left in the wild. Awareness programs are also in the works for local communities to protect the Bengal Floricans from further poaching.
⇒ 7 The Forest Owlet
One may be fooled by the small, stocky, and docile Forest Owlet however you would not what interfere when it hunts. The Forest Owlet reveals its massive talons as it hunts down its prey that could possibly be twice its size. Unfortunately, the Forest Owlet is presently severely endangered and has declined to only a fragment of its original population within Central India. The steady threat of deforestation continues to reduce the population. Before 1997, the species was assumed extinct for over a century until Pamela Rasmussen, an American Ornithologist rediscovered the Forest Owlet in Maharashtra. Today, the estimated population lys somewhere between seventy to four hundred Forest Owlets.
⇒ 8 The Philippine Eagle
The Philippine Eagle is considered to have a majestic appearance due to its long mane colored a bronze shade that lays against its strong white chest. This species is known for growing over a metre in height and seventeen pounds in weight. It is the longest eagle found across the globe. Although, the Philippine Eagle can only be found in the Philippines. The species was first named the monkey eating eagle based on an assumption that it fed solely on primates. However, currently studies have shown the pretty much anything the walks is fair game for the Philippine Eagle. It will feed on primates, monitor lizards, snakes, hornbills, and civets. The Philippine Eagles have proven to be a challenge to conserve due to the fact that when breeding each pair needs over twenty four miles to properly rear and feed their offspring. Hence, the issue of deforestation steadily declining the species population. There are presently about 180 to 500 adult Philippine Eagles population the world.
⇒ 9 The Christmas Island Frigatebird
This species is widely known for its ability to self- inflate its red chest to an overly large size. Additionally, the Christmas Island Frigatebird belongs to the bird family known for having the largest wingspan to body mass ratio across the entire globe. This means that the Christmas Island Frigatebird can stay aloft for over a week at one time without the need for rest. Plus, it is a keen kleptoparasitic, meaning they are awesome at stealing food from its fellow birds. This severely endangered species is indigenous to Australia and only around 4800 are left populating the wild.
⇒ 10 The Sumatran Ground - Cuckoo
This forest dweller lives in the humid rainforests found in Southern Sumatra. You guessed it, the Sumatran Ground - Cuckoo prefers the forest floor over flying. This is due to its wonderful camouflage coloring. The dull browns, greens, and blacks found on the Sumatran Ground - Cuckoos feathers blend perfectly into the ground of the Sumatran rainforests. The Sumatran Ground - Cuckoos eyes on the other hand do not camouflage at all due to their bright blend of blue, turquoise, and magenta around the orbits. Only eight specimens have ever been observed, and there are only about four hundred estimated Sumatran Ground Cuckoo left.