Pictures: New exhibition of extinct birds from the past
- Published
Some of the unlucky birds that were driven to extinction centuries ago are being brought to life again in special exhibition in London. This painting of a Hawaiian Crow is by the comic book artist Jamie Hewlett.
This is a painting of a Reunion Owl by Billy Childish. The bird, which was also known as a Mascarenotus grucheti, was discovered from fossils found in France and it's thought it became extinct in the early 17th century.
The Black Mamo was discovered in 1893 and was found on the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Maui. The bird was also known as Drepanis funerea and it measured 20cm from its bill to its tail.
The Great Auk looked similar to a penguin with its black back and white belly. Humans hunted the Great Auk to eat, and for its feathers - and it became extinct in the mid-19th century.
This bird, the Stephens Island Wren, was found in New Zealand. It's believed to be one of only three flightless songbirds in the world – but it went extinct after a lighthouse keeper’s cat ate up every last one!
The Liver Bird is a symbol of the city of Liverpool. The Liver Bird is a mythical bird, which as legend has it could often be seen flying alongside the River Mersey with seaweed in its beak.
The Pallas's Cormorant is an extinct bird that lived on Bering Island, which is uninhabited and is located in the Bering Sea, near Russia.
The exhibition, called Ghosts of Gone Birds will raise money and awareness for BirdLife International's Preventing Extinctions programme.
The now extinct Bishop’s ‘O’O was discovered in 1892. The exhibition Ghosts of Gone Birds can be seen at Rochelle School in Shoreditch, east London, from 2 to 23 November 2011.