Day 3819: Dodo Bird and Green Soul.

 

"Protect": photo, collage, digital.

Want music?

Click here: Hall & Oates, Sara Smile.

then click back on this blog tab or here to listen as you browse, or not?

 

 

 

2GN2S ...

I've always wondered about the extinct, flightless mysterious bird, the dodo?

 

The dodo was a flightless relative of pigeons and doves, which once inhabited the islands of Mauritius and Reunion. Dodos were large birds, approximately three-feet tall, with downy grey feathers and a white plume for a tail. The Dodo had tiny wings and its sternum – an area with strong wing muscles for flying birds – was correspondingly small.

The massive birds could reach a body weight of more than 20 kilograms! Dodos had a distinctive beak that may have been pale yellow or green which was heavy, curved and probably the dodo's only real defense; it was capable of delivering a fairly painful bite.

The dodo was endemic to the island of Mauritius, 500 miles from the Eastern coast of Madagascar. The dodo was primarily a forest bird, occasionally venturing closer to the shoreline.

With abundant food and no predators, the birds had no reason to leave. And so, over the years their descendants slowly grew bigger and heavier, their beaks grew larger, their wings smaller: dodos evolved.

Until recently, the last confirmed dodo sighting on its home island of Mauritius was made in 1662, but a 2003 estimate by David Roberts and Andrew Solow placed the extinction of the bird around 1690.

The dodo had no natural enemies on Mauritius. Life was sweet for dodos until humans also discovered the Mascarenes, in the late 1500s. Despite the fact that humans were far bigger then them, dodos were not afraid of these intruders. Fearless and flightless, they were an easy prey. Their extinction is likely due to complex phenomena of changing ecosystem and human behavior.

Nowadays, dodo means stupid or slow. But how did this extinct animal get its strange name? It may go back to early 17th century, developing from the Portuguese word 'doudo', or 'simpleton', probably because the bird had no fear of man and was easily killed.

 

Few complete dodo skeletons exist, so it is quite difficult to know exactly what they looked like. Their extinction was so rapid that they unfortunately left. While the testimonies of travelers all describe the dodo as having plumage ranging from black to dark gray,

 

 

How about a fashion show, you might not consider?

 

Described as Swedish Design with a Green Soul - Est. 1976. I was looking through my newest www.gudrunsjoden.com

catalog. I love the colors and the mix of patterns. many things that I like but won't  likely order. So I'll share? 

 

 They make me happy.

 

 

A fun 4+minute video, Cat whiskers, here.

 

Just because ...

 

Harpy Eagle

 

 

Smiles for Wednesday ...

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             Thanks for coming by today ....