"Since 1600 some 80 bird species have become extinct. The author of this text has drawn on a wide range of sources for his accounts of these birds, their habits and demise, with evidence of preserved specimens brought to life by the eye-witness accounts of early travellers and explorers. Their stories are sometimes tantalizingly slight: isolated sightings of a single bird may be the only evidence that a species ever existed. By contrast, the expeditions...

"Northern rockhopper penguins and colorful pufflegs are two examples of endangered birds. Few of them exist in the wild. Other birds have already gone extinct. What hurts these animals? What can you do to help?"--Page 4 of cover.

Naturalist and author Joel Greenberg, along with scientists and artists, reveals the story of the passenger pigeon and the intensive hunting that caused its extinction, as well as the relevance of this extinction to conservation issues today.

In a future when deforestation and other environmental factors have caused many bird species to go extinct, businessman Alfred Wallis offers a catalog of parts for creating replacements, from hand-carved beaks to Italian-leather feet.