The Rodrigues Parakeet's Last Day: What One Extinct Bird Tells Us About the Role of Museums

The Rodrigues parakeet's last day: What one extinct bird tells us about the role of museums

One day in August, 1875, a grayish-blue parrot was shot on a small island in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius. It was the last time a Rodrigues parakeet was known to be seen alive.

The Rodrigues parakeet’s last day: what one extinct bird tells us about the role of museums

One day in August, 1875, a greyish-blue parrot was shot on a small island in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius. It was the last time a Rodrigues parakeet was known to be seen alive. That bird was one of only two ever preserved. Exactly 150 years on, both rest under our care at the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, England. Aside from a few fossilised fragments, they represent the only physical evidence the species ever existed. For many e…