THE DODO. The very last                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                  Dodo was killed in 1681. It lived                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                              on the island nation of Mauritius,                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                               just off the coast of Madagascar. This                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                              flightless bird had never encountered                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                           humans before, or the pigs, cats and rats th                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                          at came along for the ride in 1638, when the                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                       Dutch arrived. It turns out the Dodo was quite                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                      tasty, to both humans and these new predators.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                   It was bigger than a turkey, about 50 pounds. Dur                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                              ing the brief time it was known to humans, it was th                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                           ought to be fat and clumsy. The Dodo simply didn't know                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                        enough to run away and hide, because there weren't any pr                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                   edators on the islands. Its name became an insult, meaning stu                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                     pid, partly because of this behavior, but Lewis Caroll's depiction of a Dodo in "Al                                                                                                                                                                                                          

             ice in Wonderland" certainly didn't help. It is one of the first examples of human-ind                                                                                                                                                                                                        

     uced extinction, that is, when people started becoming aware of such a thing, that ther                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  e might be some sort of limit to Nature's Bounty. Interestingly, the Dodo is related to the                                                                                                                                                                                                        

   Pigeon, so it was doubly sad when one of its cousins, Martha, a Passenger Pigeon, died                                                                                                                                                                                                           

in 1914. She was held captive half a world away in a zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the                                                                                                                                                                                                           

last representative of her species. Here is a list of other birds that have gone extinct sinc                                                                                                                                                                                                           

e the Dodo: 1690: Mascarene Teal 1690: Réunion Sheldgoose 1700: Elephant Bird 1700:                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Leguat's Rail 1700: Mauritian Barn Owl 1700: Réunion Solitaire 1722: Labat's Conure                                                                                                                                                                                                             

1750: Guadeloupe Amazon 1750: Martinique Amazon 1760: Lesser Antillean Macaw                                                                                                                                                                                                               

1765: Jamaican Yellow-headed Macaw 1776: Ré union Fody 1777: Society Parakeet                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

1780: Bay Thrush 1780: Mysterious Starling         1780: Rodriguez Solitaire 1793: Ocea                                                                                                                                                                                                                

nic Eclectus Parrot 1800: Amsterdam Island           Duck 1800: Dominican Green-an                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

d-yellow Macaw 1800: Moorea Sandpiper           1800: Painted Vulture 1800: Reun                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  ion Ring  -necked Parakeet 1800: Rodr              igues Parrot 1800: Tahiti Sandp                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

  iper 1800 : Tanna Ground Dove 1800             : Tonga Tabu Tahiti Flycatcher 180                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

     1: Norf      olk Pigeon 1825: Oahu           ‘Ōma’o 1826: Pigeon Hollandaise 18                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

         27: Kus                 aie Mountain           Starling 1828: Kittlitz's Thrush 1830                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

         : Bonin Gr                                       osbeak 1830: Kangaroo Island Emu 18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                 30                                         : White Gallinule 1837: Oahu O-O 1840:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                            Dieffenbach's Rail 1840: Mascarene Par                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                   rot 1842: Jamaican Green and Yellow Maca                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                               w 1844: Great Auk 1850: Black-fronted para                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                               keet 1850: Commerson's Scops Owl 1850:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                           Giant Moa 1850: Kioea 1850: Kittlitz's Rail 18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                        50: Moa 1850: Rodriguez Little Owl 1850: St                              eller's Spectacled                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                         Cormorant 1850: Tasmanian Emu 1851: Norf               olk kākā 1853: Lord Howe                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                    Island Pigeon 1859: Jamaican Pauraque 1860: New Caledonean Lorikeet 1864: Cuban Re                                                                                                                                                                    

                                d Macaw 1868: New Zealand Quail 1868: Réunion Crested Starling 1869: Red-fronted Parakee                                                                                                                                                           

                                t 1870: Himalayan Mountain Quail 1873: Samoan Wood Rail 1874: Coues's Gadwall 1875: Labrador Du                                                                                                                                            

                            ck 1879: Bonin Night Heron 1880: Macquarie Island Banded Rail 1880: Rodrigues Ring-necked Parakeet                                                                                                                                              

                             1881: Jamaican Wood Rail 1881: Seychelles Parakeet 1884: Sandwich Rail 1887: Ryukyu Kingfisher 1890: Comor                                                                                                                                    

                        o Scops Owl 1890: Macquarie Island Parakeet 1890: Oahu Nukupu'u 1890: Tristan Gallinule 1891: Lesser Koa-finch 1892                                                                                                                             

                        : Guadalupe 1892: Puerto Rican Conure, a parrot 1892: ʻUla-ʻAi-hawane 1894: Kona Grosbeak 1894: Lana'i 'Akioloa 1894:                                                                                                                           

                        Lyall's Wren 1895: Chatham Island Fernbird 1896: Greater Koa-finch 1896: Maui Nui 'Akialoa 1898: Hawaii Mamo 1899:                                                                                                                          

                      Culebra Island Amazon 1900: Antiguan Burrowing Owl 1900: Bonin Wood Pigeon 1900: Guadalupe Rufous-sided Towhee 190                                                                                                                     

                     0: Guadeloupe Burrowing Owl 1900: Martinique Wren 1900: Modest Rail 1900: North Island Bush Wren 1900: North Island Lau                                                                                                               

                 ghing Owl 1900: Queleli 1900: Saint Kitts Puerto Rican Bullfinch 1900: South Island Laughing Owl 1900: Tahiti Rail 1901: Greater Ama                                                                                                          

                 kihi 1904: Molokai ‘ō‘ō 1906: Chatham Island Bellbird 1906: Guadalupe Flicker 1907: Black Mamo 1907: Huia 1908: Alejandro Selkirk Fi                                                                                                     

                 recrown 1910: Carolina Parakeet 1910: Choiseul Crested Pigeon 1910: New Zealand merganser 1910: Slender-billed grackle 1911: Guadalup                                                                                                 

                 e Storm Petrel 1914: Forest Spotted Owlet 1914: Passenger Pigeon (Martha!) 1916: Korean Crested Shelduck 1918: Carolina Parakeet 1918:                                               Lā                                                

                 naʻi Hookbill, a honeycreeper 1920: Delalande's Madagascar Coucal 1920: Laysan Millerbird 1920: Lord Howe Island Flycatcher 1920: Lord                                     Howe Islan                                        

                 d Vinous-tinted Blackbird 1923: Iwo Jima Rail 1923: Laysan 'Apapane 1923: Lord Howe Island Fantail 1923: Pink-headed Duck 1925: Lord Ho                      we Island Starling 1927:                            

                 Paradise parrot 1928: Spotted green pigeon 1929: Bering cackling goose 1930: Oʻahu ʻAkepa 1931: Lanai ʻōmaʻo 1932: Glaucous macaw 193             2: Heath Hen 1934: Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō                       

                  1936: Molokai ʻōmaʻo 1937: Lana'i 'Alauahio 1937: ʻUla-ʻai-hawane 1940: Hawaiʻi ʻAkialoa 1940: Oahu 'Akioloa 1941: Arabian Ostrich 1944: La          ysan Rail 1945: Wake Island Rail 195             

                 0: Grand Cayman Oriole 1950: Imperial Woodpecker 1950: Madagascar Serpent Eagle 1950: New Caledonian White-throated Eared-nightjar          1952: Niceforo's Pintail 1959: Rennell Is         

                     land Teal 1963: Kākāwahie, a honeycreeper 1964: Korean Crested Shelduck 1965: Fiji Bar-winged Rail 1965: Kauaʻi Nukupuʻu 1965: New Zealand Bush Wren 1969: Kauai Akialoa 1970:       

                      Molokai 'Alauahio 1971: St. Lucia Wren 1980: Bachman's Warbler 1980: Eskimo Curlew 1980: Mariana Mallard 1985: Alaotra Grebe 1987: Kauai Oo 1988: Maui 'Akepa 1990: Atitlán grebe 

                      1990: Borreo's Cinnamon Teal 1990: Dusky Seaside Sparrow 1990: Hooded Seedeater 1990: O'ahu 'Alauahio 1990: 'O'u 1995: Maui Nukupu'u 1998: Kauai Nukupu'u 2000: Siau scops owl     

                      2004: Pernambuco pygmy owl 2004: Po'ouli 2007: Cozumel thrasher 2007: Cryptic treehunter, an ovenbird 2007: South Island kōkako 2011: Alagoas foliage-gleaner 2014: Bermuda flicker

                      2014: Bermuda hawk 2014: Bermuda night-heron 2014: Bermuda saw-whet owl 2014: Christmas Sandpiper 2014: Finsch’s duck 2014: Hodgen’s waterhen 2014: Mauritius turtle-dove 2014:

                     North Island Snipe 2014: Oceanic Parrot 2014: Rodrigues blue-pigeon 2014: South Island snipe 2014: Tristan Moorhen 2023: Kauaʻi ʻōʻō Well, it looks like there are not quite enough birds to

                         fill up this shape! As you have been standing here reading this, though, if you are a quick reader, just over 9.5 million birds have flown straight into the side of a building and died. Tha

                        t's 1 billion birds a year, just in the United States. And we're only talking about birds hitting windows. I can recall seeing a hummingbird bang up against the screen porch, BAM! It fell to

                            the ground, but fortunately, before I could attempt to rescue it, it managed to recover and fly away. Want to talk about cats? 1.3 to 4 billion birds per year. Vehicle collisions: 890 to 350

                             million. Power lines or electrocution: 8 to 57 million. All-in-all, well over 5 billion birds per year die, just because of humans, in the United States. Throughout the world, perhaps ten

                                s of billions per year. So, as you have been reading this (thank you very much, by the way, not many people have your powers of concentration), anywhere from 50 to 100 million bi

                                    rds have died, in just a mere five minutes. The source for this is mostly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, circa 2021, though the info about cats is from Nature Co mm       

                                        unications in 2013. Check it out if you don't believe me, it does seem sort of impossible. The way things are going, soon I will have more than enough extinct birds to fil                

                                               l the Dodo shape, without repetition. Now, because we still need some filler, here is the list again, in reverse order: 2023: Kauaʻi ʻōʻō 2014: Bermuda flicker 2014: Ber               

                                                   muda hawk 2014: Bermuda night-heron 2014: Bermuda saw-whet owl 2014: Christmas Sandpiper 2014: Finsch’s duck 2014: Hodgen’s waterhe n 2014: Mauritius tu             

                                                           rtle-dove 2014: North Island Snipe 2014: Oceanic Parrot 2014: Rodrigues blue-pigeon 2014: South Island snipe 2014: Tristan Moorhen                2011: Alagoas fol              

                                                              iage-gleaner 2007: Cozumel thrasher 2007: Cryptic treehunter, an ovenbird 2007: South Island kōkako 2004: Pernambuco pygmy ow                    l 2004: Po'oul                 

                                                              i 2000: Siau scops owl 1998: Kauai Nukupu'u 1995: Maui Nukupu'u 1990: Atitlán grebe 1990: Borreo's Cinnamon Teal 1990: Dusky                       Seaside Spa                    

                                                                  rrow 1990: Hooded Seedeater 1990: O'ahu 'Alauahio 1990: 'O'u 1988: Maui 'Akepa 1987: Kauai Oo 1985: Alaotra Grebe 1980: Bach                 man's War                         

                                                                  bler 1980: Eskimo Curlew 1980: Mariana Mallard 1971: St. Lucia Wren 1970: Molokai 'Alauahio 1969: Kauai Akialoa 1965: Fiji Ba                 r-winged                              

                                                                      Rail 1965: Kauaʻi Nukupuʻu 1965: New Zealand Bush Wren 1964: Korean Crested Shelduck 1963: Kākāwahie, a honeycreeper 19                                                              

                                                                      59: Rennell Island Teal 1952: Niceforo's Pintail 1950: Grand Cayman Oriole 1950: Imperial Woodpecker 1950: Madagascar Serp                                                               

                                                                      ent Eagle 1950: New Caledonian White-throated Eared-nightjar 1945: Wake Island Rail 1944: Laysan Rail 1941: Arabian Ostric                                                                

                                                                          h 1940: Hawaiʻi ʻAkialoa 1940: Oahu 'Akioloa 1937: Lana'i 'Alauahio 1937: ʻUla-ʻai-hawane 1936: Molokai ʻōmaʻo 1934: Hawa                                                               

                                                                          iʻi ʻōʻō 1932: Glaucous macaw 1932: Heath Hen 1931: Lanai ʻōmaʻo 1930: Oʻahu ʻAkepa 1929: Bering cackling goose 1928: Sp                                                               

                                                                              otted green pigeon 1927: Paradise parrot 1925: Lord Howe Island Starling 1923: Iwo Jima Rail 1923: Laysan 'Apapane 1923                                                               

                                                                              : Lord Howe Island Fantail 1923: Pink-headed Duck 1920: Delalande's Madagascar Coucal 1920: Laysan Millerbird 1920: Lo                                                             

                                                                              rd Howe Island Flycatcher 1920: Lord Howe Island Vinous-tinted Blackbird 1918: Carolina Parakeet 1918: Lānaʻi Hookbi                                                                

                                                                              ll, a honeycreeper 1916: Korean Crested Shelduck 1914: Forest Spotted Owlet 1914: Passenger Pigeon (Martha!) 1911: Gua                                                             

                                                                                 dalupe Storm Petrel 1910: Carolina Parakeet 1910: Choiseul Crested Pigeon 1910: New Zealand merganser 1910: Slende                                                               

                                                                                 r-billed grackle 1908: Alejandro Selkirk Firecrown 1907: Black Mamo 1907: Huia 1906: Chatham Island Bellbird 1906:                                                                     

                                                                                      Guadalupe Flicker 1904: Molokai ‘ō‘ō 1901: Greater Amakihi 1900: Antiguan Burrowing Owl 1900: Bonin Wood Pigeo                                                                  

                                                                                         n 1900: Guadalupe Rufous-sided Towhee 1900: Guadeloupe Burrowing Owl 1900: Martinique Wren 1900: Modest Ra                                                                 

                                                                                         il 1900: North Island Bush Wren 1900: North Island Laughing Owl 1900: Queleli 1900: Saint Kitts Puerto Rican Bu                                                                     

                                                                                             llfinch 1900: South Island Laughing Owl 1900: Tahiti Rail 1899: Culebra Island Amazon 1898: Hawaii Mamo 189                                                                      

                                                                                                 6: Greater Koa-finch 1896: Maui Nui 'Akialoa 1895: Chatham Island Fernbird 1894: Kona Grosbeak 1894: Lana                                                                   

                                                                                                        'i 'Akioloa 1894: Lyall's Wren 1892: Guadalupe 1892: Puerto Rican Conure, a parrot 1892: ʻUla-ʻAi-hawane 18                                                                   

                                                                                                                91: Lesser Koa-finch 1890: Comoro Scops Owl 1890: Macquarie Island Parakeet 1890: Oahu Nukupu'u                                                                    

                                                                                                                         1890: Tristan Gallinule 1887: Ryukyu Kingfisher 1884: Sandwich Rail 1881: Jamaican Wood Rail 18                                                               

                                                                                                                           81: Seychelles Parakeet 1880: Macquarie Island Banded Rail 1880: Rodrigues Ring-necked Parake                                                                

                                                                                                                               et 1879: Bonin Night Heron 1875: Labrador Duck 1874: Coues's Gadwall 1873: Samoan                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                    Wood Rail 1870: Himalayan Mountain Quail 1869: Red-fronted Parakeet 1868: Ne                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                           w Zealand Quail 1868: Réunion Crested Starling 1864: Cuban Red Macaw                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                               1860: New Caledonean Lorikeet 1859: Jamaican Pauraque 1853: Lor                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                  d Howe Island Pigeon 1851: Norfolk kākā 1850: Black-fronted                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                          parakeet 1850: Commerson's Scops Owl 1850: Giant Moa                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                               1850: Kioea 1850: Kittlitz's Rail 1850: Moa 1850: Rod                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                              riguez Little Owl 1850: Steller's Spectacled Cormor                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                              ant 1850: Tas      manian Emu 1844: Great Auk 18                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                              42: Jamaic                  an Green and Yellow Mac                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                 aw 1840:                           Dieffenbach's Rail 18                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                 40: Masc                              arene Parrot 183                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                              7: Oahu O-O         1830: Bo   nin Grosbeak 1830                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                              : Kangaroo Island Emu 1830: White Gallinul                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                   e 1828: Kittlitz's Thrush 1827: Kusaie Mountain Starling 18                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                        26: Pigeon Hollandaise 1825: Oahu ‘Ōma’o 1801: Norfolk Pigeon                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                     1800: Amsterdam Island Duck 1800: Dominican Green-and-ye llow                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                     Macaw 1800: Moorea Sandpiper 1800: Painted Vulture 1800:                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                 Reunion Ring-necked Parakeet                                    1800: Rodri                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                gues Parrot 1800: Tahiti Sa                                            ndpiper 1800                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                : Tanna   Ground Dove                                                       1800: Tonga                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                               Tabu Tahi                                                             ti Flycatcher            1793                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                               : Ocean                            ic Eclectus Pa               rrot 1780: Ba   y Thrush 17                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                         80: Mysterious Starling 1780: Rodriguez Solitaire                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                   1777: Socie          ty Parakeet 1776: Réunion Fody 1765: Jama                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                  ican Yellow-hea         ded Macaw 1760: Lesser Antillean                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                              Macaw 1750: Guadeloupe Amazon 1750: Martinique Am az                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                              on 1722: Labat's Conure 1700: Elephant Bird 1700: Leguat's Rail 17                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                          00: Mauritian Barn Owl 1700: Réunion Solitaire 1690: Mascaren                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                e Teal 1690: Réunion Sheldgoose 1681: Dodo                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                         These are the                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                 birds who have                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                         gone extinct since                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                         the Dodo. So far.