NEW YEAR'S EVE ORNICOPIA : MATE FOR LIFE

[1]

597.  Which birds mate for life?  It has been proved that some birds remain paired for a long time and it is supposed that some of these mate for life.  There are definite records of captive swans and geese that never remated after the partner died.  On the other hand, there are cases of Canada geese actually changing mates for no apparent reason, and many cases where the surviving individual of a pair remated.  It is obvious, therefore, that the subject needs considerable study before unequivocal statements can be given for a species as a whole.  Some ornithologists interpret the term "mating for life" quite loosely to mean that the bird remains faithful as long as the mate lives, and upon the death of a mate a new partner may be accepted.  Various authors have stated that eagles, hawks, cranes, owls, parrots, ravens, crows, magpies, chickadees, titmice, wrentits and others mate for life.  Some of these statements are bases on the circumstanital evidence that certain pairs were mated for many years. [2]

[3]

[1] Birds on a Wintry Tree, Song dynasty (960–1279), 13th century
Formerly Attributed to Lidi (Chinese, ca. 1110–after 1197)
Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk.

9 3/8 x 9 1/2 in. (23.8 x 24.1 cm)
Two magpies, their feathers fluffed up against the cold, represent a warm reminder of the inevitability of spring. Such pictures of paired birds were often given as birthday gifts to elderly couples. The white heads of the birds and their long tail feathers are symbols of longevity, as is the ancient tree upon which they perch, for despite being covered with snow, the tree has already sprouted new growth—a sign of its enduring vigor.

[2]  Mate for Life text excerpted from:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958).

[3] Tapestry panel with the character for longevity (shou), Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 18th century China
Silk and metallic thread tapestry (kesi) Overall 95 x 57 1/2 in. (241.3 x 146.1 cm)
Woven in gold with the character for longevity (shou), this bold eight-foot-tall tapestry panel was appropriate for display at birthday celebrations. The character is sensitively expressed, preserving a sense of the calligraphic brushstrokes used to write the character.

Ornicopia 5: What is the largest bird known to have lived?

Giant moa

782.  What is the largest bird known to have lived?  The giant moa of New Zealand which apparently became extinct about 5 centuries ago stood, according to reproductions of their skeletons, as much as 12 feet tall.  They were flightless birds built for running. The giant moa belonged to a large family that ranged in size from the 12-foot giants down to small species about the size of turkeys.

Lake in Pyramid Valley, South Island, New Zealand, 2008

783.  What caused the extinction of the giant moas?  The cause of their extinction about the fourteenth century is not known.  However, some were eaten by the primitive people who then inhabited New Zealand.  Others died in “graveyards” containing hundreds of skeletons of moas, which suggests that they may have been herded together by some catastrophe, perhaps fire, that caused simulataneous death to great numbers.  In Pyramid Valley of South Island a very sticky lake deposit  over which a thin film of humus and vegetation spread trapped many moas. The heavy birds broke through the surface and were caught in the treacherous mire where they floundered helplessly and died.

Sir Richard Owen KCB (1804-1892) and the skeleton of a Giant moa. Owen, a prominent biologist, paleontologist and comparative anatomist, coined the word Dinosauria (meaning "Terrible Reptile" or "Fearfully Great Reptile") and was the driving force behind the establishment of the British Museum of Natural History in London in 1881.

784.  Have any other birds approached the giant moa in size?  The elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus) may have weighed as much as 1,000 pounds and reached 11 feet in height.  Like the giant moa it was flightless and resembled an ostrich in form.

Elephant Bird -- Artist's rendering and skeleton


Reader Note: For more on the extinction of the Giant moa and other animals inhabiting the Pyramid Valley, see this from Time magazine, April 25, 1949.  And also this.

Text excerpted from:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958)