h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have a feeling I've seen these geese in St James Park in central London. I used to work nearby and, when I had the time, I'd walk round the lake. There was a collection of wildfowl there.

For some reason, this bird reminds me of the dodo in "Alciein Wonderland."
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/alice-oxford-and-the-dodo

It's more the posture and the fact that the beak seems to have been stuck on rather than growing out of the animal naturally.

Also I love the plum-colored beak. The bird looks like it's wearing lipstick!

(Like the dodo, some other related species are extinct. I'm glad that this one is thriving in some places.)

Hello minorvogonpoet and Paulh! Thanks for the comments.

Yeah the dodo stuff is interesting. But we do today have a fairly good idea of what living dodos look like. Have you seen my own article about them?

I don't think I have.

The Dodo probably has gotten a bad rap. I doubt that it was doing anything so wrong that its extinction was deserved. probably it was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Well, if you have some time … it's a pretty long article but I think there's some thought-provoking stuff in there:

https://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A74255510

"Unable to find your page."

Try this: A74255510

That should work thanks Dmitri!

Your article on the dodo is both interesting and eloquent.

Yes, that's excellent.

Three islands, three flightless bird species.

I recall that birds in Hawaii nested on the ground because there were no predators -- until Man brought in some mongoosees.

Thanks Minorvogonpoet and Paulh!

Yes Paulh… actually it's a similar story for many, many islands all over the world. I'll tell more perhaps in a special colours of wildlife article ...

I'd appreciate seeing that.

The mongoose was considered a solution to the vermin problem in Hawaii. What people forgot about, though, was that mongooses are diurnal, while rats and mice are nocturnal. The ground-nesting birds were sitting ducks (or Ne-Ne's) for them .

Sitting Duck Casino is in the Simpsons' Margefornia.

There's also an qactul duck by that name
http://imgur.com/gallery/bCTjJ

Here's a link to a Chief Sitting DFuck, but I can't tell if it's fiction or fact
http://books.google.com/books?id=5RLNCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT310&lpg=PT310&dq=%22sitting+duck%22+indian&source=bl&ots=6xYgap7SQB&sig=ACfU3U1ECsfaZonoyqaRpTekp4g-UaJ71w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiajZqrobboAhXtg3IEHT_bATAQ6AEwF3oECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22sitting%20duck%22%20indian&f=false

["qactul" sounds like a deliberate pun on "actual," but it was a typo, and so not intended.