Elephant bird Elephant bird Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of large to enormous flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They became extinct, perhaps around 1000–1200 CE, for reasons that are unclear, although human activity is the suspected cause. Elephant birds comprised the genera "Mullerornis", "Vorombe" and "Aepyornis". While they were in close geographical proximity to the ostrich, their closest living relatives are kiwi, suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead evolved from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying. In September 2018, scientists
Bird Island, South Georgia hundred thousand other birds, including gentoo penguins, South Georgia pintails and South Georgia pipits. Of South Georgia's 31 breeding species, 27 are found here. Cetaceans such as southern right whales can be seen on their feeding season in Subantarctic regions. The island has always been rat-free, unlike the main island of South Georgia where introduced rats were eradicated between 2010 and 2015. Bird Island, South Georgia Bird Island is long and wide, separated from the western end of South Georgia by Bird Sound. It is part of the British overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, also