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
Nizki Island and kelp-marked shoals. Foxes were introduced to Nizki Island by Russian fur traders in the 19th century. This decimated the population of many bird species on the island. The last fox was removed from Nizki Island in 1976, and now Aleutian Canada Geese (once believed to be extinct), Puffins, and Aleutian Terns are common on the island. Nizki Island Nizki Island (Avayax̂ in Aleut) is an uninhabited island in the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located at , it is the middle island of the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands. Flanked by Shemya to the