7 Weird and Wacky Endangered Birds
5. Southern Cassowary
Photo via Raphael Quinet @ flickr The Australian Southern Cassowary--like the emu and the ostrich--doesn't fly, but it can run nearly 25 miles per hour, despite being the country's heaviest bird. It's also key to the survival of the rainforests where it lives, since it eats fruit whole and leaves the undigested seeds behind, spreading them throughout the region. With fewer than 2,000 Southern Cassowaries left, and less than a quarter of their native habitat intact, the bird is considered nationally endangered in Australia.
6. California Condor
By the early 1980s, the california condor was on the point of extinction--fewer than 25 remained--until they were captured and encouraged to breed in captivity. In 1992, reintroduction of the birds began; now, there are just over 180 in the wild, though the birds are still classified as endangered.
Photo via Animal Planet
The birds lay only one egg at a time and can live as long as 60 years; their wingspan reaches nearly 10 feet, and they scavenge for food, surviving on dead deer, elk, sheep, cattle, and horses.
7. Northern Bald Ibis
Photo via Martin Pettitt @ flickr
Almost the entire population of Critically Endangered Northern bald ibis's live in one area in Morocco, where building development and farming have played a part in the declining population (only about 600 remain in Morocco, Syria, and Turkey combined). The bill, while long, is more flexible than dangerous, and the birds rarely fight with each other--though they do eat everything from snails and scorpions to small birds and lizards.
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