Today we meet one of the great mysteries of the avian world, the Big Bird.
First sited in 1969, the Big Bird has confounded ornithologist for decades. To date, no-one is sure where the Big Bird belongs in the avian family tree. Some claim the Big Bird is an aberrant form of Canary, while others say it is a flightless Golden Eagle. And yet, when we look at its morphology, the Big Bird seems to have more in common with a Stork or other large wading bird. It just doesn’t make sense.
The Big Bird is an incredibly rare species, to this day only one has ever been sited. While this has lead some to speculated that they are a victim of human development and habitat destruction, the one known individual has adapted remarkably well to the urban environment, and lives almost exclusively on city streets. Much like the House Sparrow, the Big Bird may now be dependent on humans for survival.
Delving deeper into their anatomy, more mysteries are revealed. X-rays show the internal structure of the Big Bird resembles a human wearing a chicken suite. It could be that the Big Bird is nothing more than a decades-long elaborate hoax. Conversely, it may reveal that there is much left in our natural world that we simply don’t understand.
Either way, more research is clearly needed to get to the bottom of what the Big Bird is and how it fits into the avian family tree.
I wish you a joyous First of April.
01/04/24
Bird of the Week 