The world of wildlife around us is amazing and diverse. In a complex and lengthy evolutionary process, some animal species acquired new qualities, and some, on the contrary, lost certain abilities. Today we consider such a unique natural phenomenon as flightless birds, which have lost the hallmark of a large family of birds - the ability to fly.
Note that the loss of this ability is a secondary phenomenon, and, of course, this fact affected the lifestyle. Such birds increased in size over time, and the inability to fly sharply limited their habitat.
Dodo
Let us look briefly into the past, and get acquainted with the Mauritian dodo, who lived on the islands of the Indian Ocean.
According to many anatomical indicators, the extinct flightless bird was similar to pigeons, but unlike its counterparts it moved only on the ground and was much larger than modern pigeons. Adults reached a growth of one meter and weighed, judging by the descriptions, up to 23 kilograms.
The last time they were seen in wildlife in 1662, it was at this time that the last recorded testimony from sailors who saw a bird dates back. And they disappeared as a result of uncontrolled hunting and human colonization of the dodo habitat.
Traverse (Stefensky Shrub Wren)
Another representative of the world of birds, which can be found only in the picture or in the descriptions of zoological reference books. They were exterminated by wild cats brought to the New Zealand islands at the end of the 19th century, as well as rats that massively ravaged their nests.
A unique type of shrub wren, as they are also called, led a nocturnal lifestyle and ate plant fruits and insects. The animals were small in size, growing up to just 10 centimeters.
As can be seen from the description, these birds had a beautiful olive plumage. Perhaps, knowing how to fly, this species of Stephen's bushy wren would still please us with its presence on the planet.
African ostrich
Ostrich in modern nature is the largest flightless bird and, moreover, the only representative of the ostrich family. This giant dwells among the hot expanses of Africa and the Middle East.
Translated from the ancient Greek language, the name is translated quite original - “camel sparrow”. Adult individuals grow up to 3 meters in height, their weight reaches up to 160 kilograms. They feed mainly on plant foods, but if necessary they can eat small animals and insects.
Recently, it has gained great economic importance, so ostrich farms can be found in all corners of the globe.
Nandu
Outwardly similar to an ostrich, but ornithologists of all countries have been debating for many years about the degree of kinship between two amazing representatives of the feathered world.
They live in the savannahs of South America, and their first mention dates back to 1553, when the Spanish encyclopedist and soldier Pedro Cieza de Leon described the nanda in his book The Chronicles of Peru.
Adults grow up to 1.4 meters in height. These beautiful birds do not know how to fly, but actively use their wings when running. They are the ones who help the Nanda keep its balance at high speed. Wings are also used for protection, as they have a massive sharp claw at their end. It is noteworthy that the Nanda swim perfectly, and even very wide rivers can cross.
Emu
The largest Australian bird, the cassowary order, despite its impressive size, swims superbly and, with strong legs, runs fast.
He prefers to settle away from densely populated areas, but in the wild he has many enemies. Among the predators for emu, the most dangerous are Dingo dogs, golden eagles, eagles. But foxes are dangerous because they ruin their nests and eat eggs.
An interesting feature of these birds is that the emu sleep lasts about 7 hours, but during this period the bird wakes up every one and a half to two hours, that is, it turns out that the emu wakes up to 8 times per night.
Cassowary
In New Guinea and the northeastern part of the Australian continent you can find an amazing cassowary, whose name in translation means "horned head."
One of the species, namely the helmet-bearing cassowary, grows to 1.5 meters in height and weighs more than 50 kilograms. The female from the male can be distinguished by a peculiar growth on the head, in males this “helmet” is slightly larger.
Cassowaries run fast and also have the ability to jump. During the attack of predators, they bounce high and strike with their massive legs.
Kiwi
An amazing and peculiar flightless bird of New Zealand is the only species of rat-free birds of the same name in the Kiwifruit family. Due to the originality of the name, the question about Qiwi often falls into the scans. As a rule, a kiwi masquerades as a question - a flightless bird of 4 letters.
This species was first discovered during the first visit by Europeans to islands near Australia in the 17th century. Appearance and habits so surprised some zoologists that they began to call the kiwi "an honorable mammal."
They have a pear-shaped body with a small head, and plumage is more like a thick coat. Due to its original appearance, it is often used in heraldry and on postage stamps.
Penguins
We continue the list of the most fun and attractive representatives of the flightless - penguins. Having lost the ability to fly, these cute creatures learned to swim and dive great depths to great depths.
Modern science has 18 species of penguins, among which the Emperor Penguin stands out for its large size and grace. They live in the Antarctic and the islands adjacent to it, and feed on fish, krill and crustaceans. It is interesting that different species of penguins that live nearby have different diets.
The habitat and lifestyle of the penguins led their wings to evolve into peculiar flippers that help them move quickly in the water.
Galapagos cormorant
The inhabitant of the Galapagos archipelago belongs to the pelican order, and the only one among the cormorants can not fly.
The wings of these cormorants are greatly shortened, the neck is retracted, which is why they strongly resemble ducks. Birds nest in large colonies on rocky shores and do not move more than one kilometer from nesting sites. They feed mainly on fish, cephalopods and other invertebrate inhabitants of ocean waters.
The Galapagos cormorant was threatened with extinction, but a well-thought-out policy makes it possible to annually increase the population of this amazing and unique flightless cormorant.
Tristan shepherd
From large representatives of the world of birds, unaware of the joy of flight, we turn to smaller ones. One of these is the Tristan shepherd, who lives on the island of Inaxessible.
This is the smallest individual in a large environment of birds that do not know how to fly. The cowgirl’s body length does not exceed 16-20 centimeters, and the body and head are covered with a dense dark gray plumage.
With such a small size, they have many enemies, and today scientists are developing projects to relocate the Tristan shepherd to other islands of the South Atlantic in order to preserve the population.
Cacapo parrot
This species, listed in the Red Book, is also called an owl parrot, and it also lost its ability to fly. The inhabitant of the New Zealand islands, according to researchers, is one of the most ancient inhabitants of the Earth among the whole variety of living birds.
The cacapo parrot is mainly nocturnal, eating plants. It is noteworthy that kakapo has a separate diet, depending on the time of year.
The bird belongs to endangered species, and by 2010 of these unique parrots, there were only 125 individuals. All of them were known to ornithologists, and each was given its own name.
Takache
At one time, these amazing representatives of the shepherdess family were considered extinct, but at the end of the 50s of the last century the species was rediscovered as a result of long searches.
The second name of this bird is a wingless sultanka, but the wings are well developed, but the muscles of the sternum and keel are poorly developed, which is why this bird does not fly. Unlike relatives, takake has larger sizes. They are distinguished by the original form of the beak, with which they easily get their own food, and grind it for better assimilation.
Among the Maori peoples, takahé was considered a totem animal, and today the bird is depicted on a 1 dollar New Zealand bill.
So we found out which birds on our amazing planet do not know how to fly, but managed to adapt in the course of evolution to survival in the wild. Ornithologists believe that the loss of flying ability was associated with the island habitat of most “non-flyers”, where there was an abundance of food, and most importantly, there were no natural predators.
Of course, such a phenomenon as a bird that does not know how to fly is surprising, but nature ordered it, and humanity must do everything to preserve these unique representatives of the terrestrial fauna.
Article author: Valery Skiba