# What is the Rarest Bird on the Planet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243 "2007-08-20T14:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/1 "2007-08-20T14:07:37Z")
Which bird has so few in number or keeps itself so well hidden to make it the most rare bird on the planet? Are we talking the Ivory Billed Woodpecker or a new species of Bird of Paradise? Anyone know the rarest bird? Could a pic possibly be posted? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/2 "2007-08-20T14:41:24Z")
It’s really impossible to say, since many species of birds have not been seen for many years but may still exist in small numbers. Undoubtedly there are a few that are down to the last few individuals, or even last individual, at the moment. The most recently extinct species that we know about is the [Po’o-uli](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4066077.stm) of Hawaii. It is possible a few still survive, but have escaped detection. The [Chatham Islands Black Robin](http://www.kcc.org.nz/birds/blackrobin.asp) at one point was down to a population of 5 individuals, but has since increased to 250. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/3 "2007-08-20T15:02:39Z")
[Only one known.](http://www.breatheinfo.com/images/big_bird.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/4 "2007-08-20T16:31:12Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] [Only one known.](http://www.breatheinfo.com/images/big_bird.jpg) [/QUOTE] God damnit. That was MY post. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/5 "2007-08-20T18:05:40Z")
We had a thread on this subject awhile back: > **[Rarissima Avis](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=308273)** > > As most of us with an interest in extinctions know, the last dusky seaside sparrow died a year or so ago. It was one of those rare cases of a small species endemic to a given limited habitat and closely related to a larger, more widespread species. ... I think we covered most of the top suspects. ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/6 "2007-08-20T18:25:00Z")
The rarest bird on the planet in the almost non-existent “non-insane pretty single woman”. I’ve been looking for one of these for quite some time now. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/7 "2007-08-20T19:04:18Z")
As the father of three daughters, I have to say you’re probably right. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/8 "2007-08-20T19:06:35Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] It’s really impossible to say, since many species of birds have not been seen for many years but may still exist in small numbers. Undoubtedly there are a few that are down to the last few individuals, or even last individual, at the moment. The most recently extinct species that we know about is the [Po’o-uli](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4066077.stm) of Hawaii. It is possible a few still survive, but have escaped detection. The [Chatham Islands Black Robin](http://www.kcc.org.nz/birds/blackrobin.asp) at one point was down to a population of 5 individuals, but has since increased to 250. [/QUOTE] Hmm, ok, I have been researching for personal reasons and I am friends with a very quirky ornothologist who mentioned the Black Robin. Mostly jungle/tropicals though huh? I wonder why? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/9 "2007-08-20T22:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Mostly jungle/tropicals though huh? I wonder why? [/QUOTE] Well the black robin is neither jungle nor tropical. But there is a good reason why most endangered species are tropical: we’ve already exterminated all the temperate species. Seriously, people have been practising agriculture in temperate Eurasia and Africa for so long that they either exterminated or specifically protected all the vulnerable species thousands of years ago. High levels of agriculture were introduced to much of temperate North America more recently, but the land is so productive that it was already fully exploited by 100 years ago. Once again all the North American species vulnerable to this sort of management were either exterminated or protected half a century ago. In contrast the tropics have been a backwater for Euroepan influence until very recently, making them refuges for wilflife. However since the 1950s there has been an increased focus on developing the tropics, and this has led to a massive surge in extinctions in the tropics. It’s really not suprrising that most vulnerbale species are tropical and/or endemic to the “New Lands” like Australiasia. It’s simply because we’ve already exterminated any potentially vulnerable temperate species. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/10 "2007-08-21T02:21:10Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Hmm, ok, I have been researching for personal reasons and I am friends with a very quirky ornothologist who mentioned the Black Robin. Mostly jungle/tropicals though huh? I wonder why? [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s not really a matter of temperate or tropical. A very large number of species that have gone extinct or are highly endangered are island species. Having evolved in the absence of predators and frequently flightless or poor fliers, they have been decimated by introduced cats, rats, weasels, and so on. Also, Hawaiian birds and others have been affected by introduced avian malaria. And of course, since many islands are small, when they are deforested the endemic species have no place else to go. The avifaunas of Hawaii and New Zealand, as well as many of the Pacific islands, have been decimated. In fact, this process began even before the arrival of Europeans; Polynesian colonization caused an enormous number of extinctions. Among islands, there may be a greater number of threatened species in the tropics, but this is more a factor of there being a higher diversity of species in the tropics in general than a difference in extinction rates between the tropics and temperate zone. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/11 "2007-08-21T13:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=dmatsch] The rarest bird on the planet in the almost non-existent “non-insane pretty single woman”. I’ve been looking for one of these for quite some time now. [/QUOTE] That joke would have been better if you used “chick” instead of “woman.” ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/12 "2007-08-21T16:46:03Z")
I have a dodo in my back garden. :eek: (It’s lonely.) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-rarest-bird-on-the-planet/416243/13 "2007-08-21T19:58:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Only one known. [Not true](http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Relatives#Big_Bird).