THE DODO. The very last Dodo was killed in 1681. It lived on the island nation of Mauritius. This flightless bird had never encountered humans before, or the pigs, cats and rats that 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. During the brief time it was known to humans, it was thought to be fat and clumsy. The Dodo simply didn't know enough to run away and hide, because there weren't any predators on the islands. Its name became an insult, meaning stupid, partly because of this behavior, but Lewis Caroll's depiction of a Dodo in "Alice in Wonderland" certainly didn't help. It is one of the first examples of human-induced extinction, that is, when people started becoming aware of such a thing, that there 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 since 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	Réunion Fody
1777	Society Parakeet
1780	Bay Thrush
1780	Mysterious Starling
1780	Rodriguez Solitaire
1793	Oceanic Eclectus Parrot
1800	Amsterdam Island Duck
1800	Dominican Green-and-yellow Macaw
1800	Moorea Sandpiper
1800	Painted Vulture
1800	Reunion Ring-necked Parakeet
1800	Rodrigues Parrot
1800	Tahiti Sandpiper
1800	Tanna Ground Dove
1800	Tonga Tabu Tahiti Flycatcher
1801	Norfolk Pigeon
1825	Oahu ‘Ōma'o
1826	Pigeon Hollandaise
1827	Kusaie Mountain Starling
1828	Kittlitz's Thrush
1830	Bonin Grosbeak
1830	Kangaroo Island Emu
1830	White Gallinule
1837	Oahu O-O
1840	Dieffenbach's Rail
1840	Mascarene Parrot
1842	Jamaican Green and Yellow Macaw
1844	Great Auk
1850	Black-fronted parakeet
1850	Commerson's Scops Owl
1850	Giant Moa
1850	Kioea
1850	Kittlitz's Rail
1850	Moa
1850	Rodriguez Little Owl
1850	Steller's Spectacled Cormorant
1850	Tasmanian Emu
1851	Norfolk kākā
1853	Lord Howe Island Pigeon
1859	Jamaican Pauraque
1860	New Caledonean Lorikeet
1864	Cuban Red Macaw
1868	New Zealand Quail
1868	Réunion Crested Starling
1869	Red-fronted Parakeet
1870	Himalayan Mountain Quail
1873	Samoan Wood Rail
1874	Coues's Gadwall
1875	Labrador Duck
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	Comoro 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	`Ula-`Ai-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
1900	Guadeloupe Burrowing Owl
1900	Martinique Wren
1900	Modest Rail
1900	North Island Bush Wren
1900	North Island Laughing Owl
1900	Queleli
1900	Saint Kitts Puerto Rican Bullfinch
1900	South Island Laughing Owl
1900	Tahiti Rail
1901	Greater Amakihi
1904	Molokai ‘ō‘ō
1906	Chatham Island Bellbird
1906	Guadalupe Flicker
1907	Black Mamo
1907	Huia
1908	Alejandro Selkirk Firecrown
1910	Carolina Parakeet
1910	Choiseul Crested Pigeon
1910	New Zealand merganser
1910	Slender-billed grackle
1911	Guadalupe Storm Petrel
1914	Forest Spotted Owlet
1914	Passenger pigeon
1916	Korean Crested Shelduck
1918	Carolina Parakeet
1918	Lāna`i Hookbill, a honeycreeper
1920	Delalande's Madagascar Coucal
1920	Laysan Millerbird
1920	Lord Howe Island Flycatcher
1920	Lord Howe Island Vinous-tinted Blackbird
1923	Iwo Jima Rail
1923	Laysan 'Apapane
1923	Lord Howe Island Fantail
1923	Pink-headed Duck
1925	Lord Howe Island Starling
1927	Paradise parrot
1928	Spotted green pigeon
1929	Bering cackling goose
1930	O`ahu `Akepa
1931	Lanai `ōma`o
1932	Glaucous macaw
1932	Heath Hen
1934	Hawai`i `ō`ō
1936	Molokai `ōma`o
1937	Lana'i 'Alauahio
1937	`Ula-`ai-hawane
1940	Hawai`i `Akialoa
1940	Oahu 'Akioloa
1941	Arabian Ostrich
1944	Laysan Rail
1945	Wake Island Rail
1950	Grand Cayman Oriole
1950	Imperial Woodpecker
1950	Madagascar Serpent Eagle
1950	New Caledonian White-throated Eared-nightjar
1952	Niceforo's Pintail
1959	Rennell Island Teal
1963	Kākāwahie, a honeycreeper
1964	Korean Crested Shelduck
1965	Fiji Bar-winged Rail
1965	Kaua`i Nukupu`u
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	Kaua`i `ō`ō.
There are 11,000 species of birds. The rate of extinction is there before you, so as a take-home assignment, can you calculate when we will no longer have any birds left? (Show your work.)