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I am a poet. Poetry is a new forum to me, but one that I am absolutely in love with. Writing poetry and creating beautiful images in just a few words has taught me to liven my prose. Now that I've discovered this wonderful form of expression, I'm hooked for good! Literally, I am just Lynne. A compilation of all the people that have touched my life, of all the places I have found, of all the things I have felt and touched. I like to bring them with me, wherever I go, and leave just a little bit of them behind, in my words and pictures, just like fairy dust.  HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF AN ELEPHANT BIRD?
By Lynne Remick Did you know there are 8,700 species of living birds and more than 1,000 species of birds that are now extinct? You know the ostrich, the largest living bird, which grows up to 8 feet tall and weighs up to 300 pounds. And, you know the dodo, an extinct bird that disappeared around 1681. There's even a chance that you may have seen a trumpeter swan, the heaviest flying bird, which can weigh up to thirty-eight pounds. But have you ever heard...of an elephant bird? Perhaps you think that this silly creature is made up. Or, that someone thought it funny to mix an elephant with a bird. If there were such a thing as an elephant bird, what would it look like, anyway? Would it be a small bird with great big, floppy ears and a long nose and a wrinkled trunk? Could it be a large, odd-looking elephant with little delicate bird wings and a pointed beak? It sounds like nonsense, don't you agree? An elephant bird, I never did see! The truth is that the elephant bird is neither an elephant nor a bird, but it was REAL, and it is a bird that lived until the tenth century. In fact, the elephant bird is the largest bird-like creature that has ever lived! Where could such an unusual dinosaur be found? Not just anywhere--elephant birds lived in the jungles of Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa, along with other strange species of birds which are now extinct. One hundred and sixty-five million years ago, Madagascar broke off from Africa and traveled into the sea. The elephant bird was one of the island's creatures that remained, but it developed in new ways so it could survive the new circumstances and surroundings. If you were able to travel in time, back to Madagascar in the days of the Elephant Bird, and came across a large beast that looked like a bird, stood ten feet tall and weighed around a thousand pounds, you might just have stumbled across one! Yet, if you came upon it quickly and startled it, it would not fly away. Elephant birds were flightless, much like the ostrich and emu of today. They moved swiftly on large, powerful legs, so you wouldn't have wanted to get in their way. Because known bird records begin in the 1680s, we don't have much information about the Elephant bird, except what we can tell from its fossils. Tests confirm that the last time an elephant bird dragged its feet across the ground of its native land was around eight hundred years ago. Although there were no other large predatory animals in Madagascar, the Elephant Bird became extinct. One reason may have been a change in the earth and climate of Madagascar, such as volcanic eruption. Another has to do with its food supply. The elephant bird did not have to fly because there was so much food on the ground. So, they became larger and heavier. Perhaps when the food supply dwindled, so did the birds. However, the most probable cause for the Elephant Bird's extinction is the introduction of mankind into its environment. One common opinion is that humans may have hunted this bird until there were none left. Whatever the reason for their end, it is sad to think that these silly-looking creatures are not around for us to see, like ostriches or emu. What we can be thankful for is that Scientists have uncovered bones and eggs of the elephant bird. The eggs-the largest known single cells in the animal kingdom-are almost one foot long and so large that you could fill them up with two gallons of milk! One Elephant Bird egg is the equivalent of 150 chicken eggs. So, you might have thought that you'd seen and heard everything, but now you know better. If someone ever tells you there's such a thing as a bird that lays eggs as big as a gallon jug of milk, you'll believe them. Now, you've heard of an elephant bird! *.*.*.*.*
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Email - LynnRemick@aol.com |
