Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush
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Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrush, Cucuturdus
dendrophasianus L 35-85 cm, WS 35-40 cm, Family: Cuculidae
IUCN Conservation
Status: Extinct (EX)
Description:
Medium-sized
to large bird with a sturdy bill, flat
head, long crest feathers and an extremely long tail. Mostly brown, with heavy
barring in the wings and tail, undersides are tan to cream with narrow barring.
Head is large, with a dark crown, pale throat, and exposed blue skin around the
eye. Crest consists of two long, skinny straightened feathers. Adults have obvious,
long tail feathers, which in males can be as much as three times as long as the
body. Female tails shorter. Wings short and rounded. Juveniles unknown.
Voice:
No
recordings exist, but voice was described as nasal, calls were often described
as hoots and squeals. Likely sounded similar to the Black-tailed Cuckoothrush.
Range and Habitat:
Extinct,
but was native to forests of the northwest. Range likely extended along the
western slopes of the Paramounts and Angelics, possibly as far south as the
Tower peninsula and Georgian mountains. By 1910 the range had shrunk to only
small pockets withing the Angelics, and the last confirmed wild bird was shot
in 1919 in the northern Angelics near Zeleny Creek. Old-growth specialists, Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrushes were dependent on low and mid-elevation old-growth rainforest,
especially forests dominated by redwoods, coopers-fir, cedar, and spruce.
Discussion:
Much
like other island ecosystems across the globe, Novasola has seen drastic
changes which have resulted in a huge loss of native diversity. Most endemic
bird species have seen dramatic population declines since white settlement, and
many other species have gone extinct. Perhaps the most famous case of
extinction on Novasola, certainly of birds, is the Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrush, which was once common in the island’s rainforests but was driven
to extinction from a combination of habitat destruction and over-hunting. While
logging operations did negatively impact the cuckoothrush’s habitat, the bulk
of the harm was caused by plume hunters harvesting the birds for their
elaborate tail feathers. These feathers were incredibly popular fashion accessories
for hats around the turn of the 20th century. This same fashion
trend led to over-hunting and population declines in many species across the
continent, especially species with particularly dramatic plumage. Some species
saw such alarming drops that more and more of the public became increasingly
concerned for their conservation, which ultimately led to the passing of
landmark conservation acts including the Lacey Act of 1900 and the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Unfortunately for the cuckoothrush, these protections
were too little too late, and enough damage had been done to their wild
populations that they went extinct in the wild around 1919, when the last
recorded wild bird was, illegally, shot and killed by a hunter. The species
officially went extinct with the death of the last captive Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush
in 1921 at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.
Because
the species went extinct in the early 20th century, and was elusive to
begin with, very little is known about the ecology of the Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrush. Its closest relative, the Black-tailed Cuckoothrush, is itself extremely
rare or possibly extinct, making even comparisons difficult. What we do know
comes mostly from written accounts of plume hunters. According to most sources,
Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrushes were old-growth forest specialists. There is no
consensus on the diet of Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrushes, but they likely ate invertebrates,
bird eggs, and small vertebrates like rodents, amphibians, and snakes.
Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrushes were likely non-migratory. They were also solitary, rarely found
in groups larger than two. They would form monogamous pairs, and it seems they
would remain in that pair permanently, sometimes refusing to breed at all once the
original partner had died. This reluctance to form new pair bonds likely
contributed to their speedy extinction, though their reclusive and solitary
nature may have helped curb it. They built nests in the subcanopy, but likely
also engaged in occasionally nest parasitism, that is they may have laid eggs
in the nests of other bird species, though this was never documented. Nests
were flimsy platforms of sticks and ferns. We also know that they had incredibly
short incubation times; the entire time from laying eggs to rearing offspring
until they fledge possibly lasted less than three weeks, and cuckoothrushes
could lay as many as four broods a breeding season, excluding any eggs that were
placed in other bird nests.
Hunters
were often able to locate Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrushes because of their
vocalizations. Though there are no recordings of the bird, people who had heard
them claimed the cuckoothrush was quite vocal, calling to its mate often and
giving alarm calls whenever threatened. These calls were loud and easy for
plume hunters to recognize and follow. Indigenous peoples on Novasola would
also hunt the bird for its tail feathers by following its calls.
Pheasant-tailed
Cuckoothrushes, along with the Black-tailed Cuckoothrush, are members of the
genus Cucuturdus which is only found on Novasola (though may now be entirely
extinct) and are related to other cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. Their
placement in the family is clear, but where in the family they belong, in other
words which other species they are most closely related, is unknown. They were
named Cuckoothrushes because of their superficial similarity to thrushes,
especially the Black-tailed Cuckoothrush, not only in their coloration but also
their eggs, which look incredibly like thrush eggs. It’s possible they were
also observed laying eggs in thrush nests. The Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush was
culturally significant to numerous indigenous tribes, who used the tail
feathers in ceremonial garments and ornamentation. The Cishtaqlun name for the bird
is akooxllaq. According to Cishtaqlun oral tradition, akooxllaq once was
bright blue and had a short tail, but during an altercation with a local chief,
the chief grabbed akooxllaq’s tail but the bird tried very hard to fly away. He
pulled so hard from the chief, who would not let go, such that his tail was stretched.
The chief was only persuaded to finally let go once akooxllaq traded away his
bright colors, which is why he was forever afterwards brown and long-tailed.
The
Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush was first described for science in 1839 by John
Kirk Townsend using a specimen he acquired from Russian traders. By the time of
the 1902 NRC expedition, Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrushes were already extremely
rare. Richard Reichwald had seen specimens before, and could recognize
cuckoothrush tail feathers in ladies’ hats, but he struggled to encounter any
living birds. During the 1904 expedition he believed he saw one flying, though
it was obscured by the forest. He did however finally encounter a breeding pair
in 1910, though this was the last time he would see any alive. When he wrote Native
Birds of Novasola in 1912 he mostly used older specimens and accounts from other
firsthand accounts.
“Very
little can be said about the Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush in full confidence. A
spectre that haunts the fantasies of avid sportsmen more than the dark woods it
within dwells. Surely now the fly-fisherman is better acquainted with this bird
than any save the millinery man, whose devotion to finding this bird is
surpassed only by the devotion to its wanton destruction. Indeed, I have seen
many a fine lady on the streets of Cape George, and more so in New York, who
amble about their day in the company of a Cuckoothrush atop their heads, but I
have so few birds breathing. I am steadfast in my conviction that should these
ladies see the bird alive and in its emerald mossy home, and should they know
how soon these birds are to the river Jordan, we could halt this feather trade
in perpetuity.” – Richard Reichwald, “The Feather Trade Lives in the Novasola
Territory”, article in Forest and Stream magazine, 1910
“It
is with a profound, impossible sadness that I was called to duty this morning.
Earlier this week a man had been hunting in the mountains of the western range
when he had taken shot at a peculiar bird, to him unknown. Upon inspection he
sent the body to a friend, a Mr. Brandpark, in Cape George, who in turn sent it
to me. As the preeminent ornithologist in the territory, a boast I take no
pride in, it was my solemn responsibility to identify this strange and
unfortunate creature. I knew at once by description alone what it must be, and
surely enough upon its arrival at my office I could be no less certain the
carcass was that of a Pheasant-tailed Cuckoothrush. This was the first time
anyone had recorded an encounter with the bird in two years.
I
fear for the future of this magnificent species like no other in the
Fastwaters. Were it not for the few remaining specimens in zoological parks across the
country, I would claim this poor, beautiful bird has already met with the Pale
Horseman, or, perhaps more in truth, the Pale Huntsman.” – Richard Reichwald,
personal diary entry, later published under the title “Eulogy for the
Cuckoo Thrush”, Forest and Stream, 1919