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Mysterious mega-swan once waddled through NZ


Claire.

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Mysterious mega-swan once waddled through New Zealand

It’s the original All Black. New Zealand was once home to a hulking, semi-flightless black swan that died out after humans first arrived from Polynesia in the 13th Century. The existence of a prehistoric New Zealand swan has long been contentious. Legends from the Moriori people tell of the Poūwa – a large swan-like creature. But some palaeontologists have suggested this may refer to the Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus), which occasionally flies across the Tasman Sea.

Read more: New Scientist

 

Edited by Claire.
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Now if ever there was a bird that is fated to be eaten out of existence ...

~

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On July 25, 2017 at 9:52 PM, third_eye said:

Now if ever there was a bird that is fated to be eaten out of existence ...

~

Flightless birds don't fair well when man, his animals (stoats, cats, dogs, mongooses) or his stowaways (like mice, rats, the Brown Tree Snake, etcetera) enter their habitats. The Dodo was probably a better example of a bird fated to be eaten, but there was also the Elephant Bird, Moa, Great Auk, various Rails and others. Flightlessness in birds generally only works in a predator free environment. 

Edited by Sundew
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