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There are today about 10,000 species of birds, and
1186 of them are considered to be under threat of
extinction. Except for 11 species, the threat is man-made.

Dodo

Dinornis maximus (meaning "huge, terrible bird") was the tallest
bird that ever lived. This 11 1/2 ft (3.5 m) tall moa lived in
New Zealand. A flightless bird, Dinornis had long, heavily-built
legs, a long neck, and a bulky body.

This slow-moving bird was an herbivore; it ate seeds and
fruit. These birds swallowed stones (which went into gizzard)
that helped digest the food.
When Dinornis Lived: Dinornis appeared during the Pleistocene and
went extinct around 1800, due to pressures from humans. Dinornis was named by English paleontologist Richard Owen in
1843; Owen had been sent a box of bones from a missionary in New
Zealand.

Dodo Bird

 

Absolutely Adorable Stuffed Plush Dodo Birds

Guam Broadbill

The Guam Broadbill, also known as "Chuguangguang" in the native
language, was a small bird that had a bluish head and neck with a
metallic luster; a back and upper wing coverts that were near
green-blue; a rump that was grayer than the back; white chin and
throat feathers; light cinnamon breast feathers; bluish-slate
tail; black bill and feet; and dark brown iris.

Mariana Mallard

The Mariana Mallard, also known as "Nganga palao" in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), was a large
duck that measured 23 inches in length. It was mottled brown in
color, and had an orange bill. Some males had greenish heads. The
species is believed to have been a subspecies that originated as
a hybrid between the common mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and the
grey duck

Passenger Pigeon

Once a common bird of eastern North America, the passenger
pigeon became extinct very quickly. Early records, beginning in
1630, describe its migrations, roosting and nesting in enormous
numbers, but by 1912 there were rewards offered for evidence of a
live, wild bird.

Although there is a question of the natural survival of a
bird that roosted in numbers that destroyed forests, that laid
one or two eggs in a flimsy nest, and that suffered losses from
overcrowding and nestling mortality, humans finally doomed the
bird to extinction. Shot, trapped, and clubbed for market, hog
food, and sport, it could not survive. The world's last passenger
pigeon died in a zoo in 1914.

Carolina Parakeet

With the spread of agriculture, this brilliantly coloured bird
developed a liking for the seeds of many kinds of fruit and grain
crops. For this, and its habit of gathering in great destructive
flocks, it was condemned as a pest and subjected to wholesale
slaughter. Many were also sold as pets.

Once common in the southeastern United States, the Carolina
parakeet became increasingly scarce as deforestation reduced its
habitat. Already rare by the mid 1880s, its last stand was in
Florida, where, in 1920, a flock of 30 birds was the last ever
seen of the only native parrot of the United States.

Po'ouli

One of Earth's rarest birds might have gone into extinction
following the death of one of the last known Po'ouli Melamprosops
phaeosoma. Captive breeding efforts began in 2003, when members
of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project attempted to locate and
trap the three remaining birds. One bird was finally captured on
September 9 2004, but sadly this individual – possibly the last
of its kind – died on November 28 2004. It is very unlikely that
the other two still survive!

Hawaiian Crow

This bird moved from Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild
at the 2004 IUCN Red List of threatened Species. The last two
known wild individuals of this species disappeared from Hawaii in
2002. Habitat alteration, collecting and shooting, introduced
predators (e.g. rats, the Indian mongoose) and predation from the
native Hawaiian Hawk, and avian malaria and pox carried by
introduced mosquitoes have contributed to the crow's decline.
Some individuals remain in captive breeding facilities and a
reintroduction plan is being developed.

Extinct species of Birds


Bird of prey

Argentavis
Guadalupe Caracara
Haast's Eagle

Cormorants

Spectacled Cormorant


Cuckoos

Delalande's Coucal
St Helena Cuckoo

Ducks, Geese and Swans

New Zealand Cape Barren Goose
Korean Crested Shelduck
Réunion Shelduck
Mauritian Shelduck
Amsterdam Island Duck
Mauritian Duck
Pink-headed Duck
Madagascar Pochard
Labrador Duck
Auckland Islands Merganser

Grebes

Colombian Grebe
Atitlan Grebe

Herons

New Zealand Little Bittern
Réunion Night Heron
Mauritius Night Heron
Rodrigues Night Heron
Réunion Flightless Ibis

Hummingbirds

Brace's Emerald
Gould's Emerald

Kingfishers

Ryukyu Kingfisher
St Helena Hoopoe

Nightjars

Jamaica Least Pauraque

Owls

Reunion Owl
Mauritius Owl
Rodrigues Little Owl
Laughing Owl

Parrots

Norfolk Island Kaka
Paradise Parrot
Society Parakeet
Black-fronted Parakeet
Newton's Parakeet
Mascarene Parrot
Broad-billed Parrot
Rodrigues Parrot
Cuban Red Macaw
Glaucous Macaw
Carolina Parakeet
 

Passerines

Stephens Island Wren
New Zealand Bush Wren
Bonin Islands Thrush
Bay Thrush
Grand Cayman Thrush
Kittlitz's Thrush
Chatham Island Fernbird
Aldabran Brush Warbler
Lord Howe Gerygone
Guam Flycatcher
Maupiti Monarch
Piopio
Lord Howe Island White-eye
Kioea
Hawaii 'O'o
Oahu 'O'o
Molokai 'O'o
Kauai 'O'o
Bachman's Warbler
Akialoa
Ula-'ai-hawane
Black Mamo
Hawaii Mamo
Kakawahie
Kona Grosbeak
Lesser Koa-finch
Greater Koa-finch
Greater Amakihi
Slender-billed Grackle
Bonin Islands Grosbeak
Kusaie Island Starling
Mysterious Starling
Norfolk and Lord Howe Starling
Bourbon Crested Starling
Huia
Po'ouli

Petrels

St Helena Bulwer's Petrel
St Helena Gadfly Petrel
New Zealand Storm-petrel
Guadalupe Storm Petrel

Pigeons and Dodos

Liverpool Pigeon
Rodrigues Pigeon
Bonin Wood Pigeon
Mauritius Blue Pigeon
Forster's Dove of Tanna
Marquesas Fruit Pigeon
Cholseul Crested Pigeon
Passenger Pigeon
Dodo
Rodrigues Solitaire
 

Quails

Heath Hen
New Zealand Quail
Himalayan Quail

Rails

Chatham Islands Rail
Wake Island Rail
Tahitian Red-billed Rail
Ascension Island Rail
Kusaie Island Crake
Hawaiian Rail
Laysan Rail
Samoan Wood Rail
Lord Howe Swamphen
Mauritius Red Hen
Leguat's Gelinote

Ratites

Aepyornis
Moa
Slender Moa
Dinornis robustus
Great Broad-billed Moa
Euryapteryx gravis
Lesser Megalapteryx
Megalapteryx didinus

Waders, gulls and auks
Javanese Lapwing
White-winged Sandpiper
Eskimo Curlew
Great Auk

Woodpeckers

Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Imperial Woodpecker


See Also:
Prehistoric Birds

Endangered Birds

Birds in Mythology


Sweet and Endearing Bird Calendars