Post #13993

Takahe: Spherical Phoenix. It was considered extinct three times, but each time the bird returned For the average person, a takahe is just a cool ball of feathers on thick legs. But for ornithologists this bird is special. She emerged from legend, only to die out. Three times. And yet she is here and is ready to painfully scratch with her wings anyone who doubts her existence! In the 17th century, when Europeans arrived in New Zealand, they heard stories from Maori about a bright blue bird the size of a goose that lives in the most dense and inaccessible regions of New Zealand's South Island. However, they mistook these stories for myths, because no body - no business. It was only in 1847 that several old bird bones fell into the hands of scientists. And only then it was declared... extinct. But at least we have confirmed the reality of the animals - that’s already progress! And 30 years later, the takahe fell into the hands of researchers alive, and then it was declared... extinct? After all, not a single expedition could find the animal in the wild, so scientists decided that they got one of the last individuals. The next meeting with a blue bird occurred 20 years later, in 1898. And then, finally, the bird was declared... extinct again?! Yes, as much as possible! Once again the expeditions went for a walk in the forest and rendered a verdict - this time the bird definitely threw back its spurs. And only in 1948, a group of researchers led by a New Zealand doctor (not even an ornithologist!) set out to investigate reports of traces of an unknown bird. And they discovered not only two birds at once, but also three whole fresh nests. From which it was concluded that takahe not only did not become extinct, but also continued to actively reproduce. The species was triumphantly brought back from the dead, and remains in the realm of the living to this day. And everything in this story is good, but one question remains unresolved: how did bright blue birds weighing 1.5 kilos manage to hide from Europeans for almost 300 years? It turns out that the matter is not only in the poor knowledge of the region and the small range of the bird itself, but also in their habits. Takahe are territorial birds that live exclusively in pairs and do not allow other representatives of their species to approach them, which is why their population is widely dispersed across the area: within a radius of a couple of kilometers from you there will be no more than 2-3 birds. So these birds also know their territory very well, run quickly, and if they are pinned in a corner, they themselves enter into battle, striking with small but sharp spurs and a huge beak. Tracking down such weirdos is not easy, catching them is even harder. And it’s absolutely impossible not to get hit in the face! Author: Yaroslav Ilyin 🏀 Hit the hoop and get an NFT gift — https://t.me/BasketbolX_bot