Madagascan pochard of numerous fish species in the lake that killed most of the pochard chicks and damaged nesting sites. Adult birds are also likely to have become victims of introduced fishes. Rice cultivation, cattle grazing on the shores, burning of shore vegetation, introduced mammals (rats), gill-net fishing and hunting are all factors that led to the duck's disappearance from the lake. The last record of multiple birds at Lake Alaotra is from 9 June 1960 when a small flock of about 20 birds was spotted on the lake. Despite the rarity of the species in 1960, a male was shot, and
Big Bird to the cassowary; he replied, "I'm more of a condor." On the January 23, 1976 episode of "Hollywood Squares", Big Bird was asked what kind of bird he is and said he was a lark, causing host Peter Marshall to crack up. In the film "Don't Eat the Pictures", Osiris calls Big Bird an ibis. Big Bird appeared in a series 11 episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", in which he declares he is a "golden condor". Zoologist Mike Dickison suggested in his popular Pechakucha talk that Big Bird represents a unique species that evolved from the whooping crane. Big Bird