10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

The original story is that emus and ostriches and moas and such evolved as a separate group of birds from all the other birds, from the basal birdish thing that gave rise to all the living birds, and became a large land bird. To be more specific, the Kiwi descends from a bird that FLEW there from Africa or Madagascar and then became the kiwi.

Madagascar 259

Madagascar Ostriches Elephants New Zealand 259

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2014

But you won’t find Ostrich or another ratite in first place on Jetz et al.’s The Cuckoo Roller — today found only in Madagascar and Comoros — is an oddball bird with a puffy head and a chameleon-eating habit. Birds genetics Madagascar oilbirds taxonomy and systematics'

Madagascar 278

Madagascar Comoros South America Ecuador 278

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Not, as Linneaus thought, an ostrich, nor even, as later scientists concluded, a distant cousin of pigeons deserving of family rank, it was an honest-to-goodness pigeon, deeply embedded within the family Columbidae. The Dodo lived on Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

Solomon Islands 279

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 279