Via National Geographic:

A rare quail from the Philippines was photographed for the first time before being sold as food at a poultry market, experts say.

Found only on the island of Luzon, Worcester’s buttonquail was known solely through drawings based on dated museum specimens collected several decades ago.

Scientists had suspected the species—listed as “data deficient” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 2008 Red List—was extinct.

However, the buttonquail is from a “notoriously cryptic and unobtrusive family of birds,” according to the nonprofit Birdlife International, so the species may survive undetected in other regions.

This bird is obviously awesome and good at keeping secrets. I mourn its demise, and I hope, at least, that it was delicious.

Thanks to Slog tipper Wesley!

Lindy West was born an unremarkable female baby in Seattle, Washington. The former Stranger writer covered movies, movie stars, exclamation points, lady stuff, large frightening fish, and much, much more....

11 replies on “Recently Devoured Extinct Bird of the Day!”

  3. Is there anyone at the Slog who does not salivate over the prospect of dead birds? Why don’t a few of you guys start a band, name yourselves “These Dead Birds are Delicious,” book a show at the Comet, and sing the fervent praises of foie gras and the tastiness of endangered species. Something tells me it would be hip, catchy, snotty and petulant and would undoubtedly get favorable coverage in the Stranger’s other blog.

  4. being cavilier about killing animals shows youre edgy and original. my mom is all like save the animals and shit but im twentysomething and my attitude is fucking awesome. look at my tats dude

  5. White humnas have no idea of the pressure placed on Brown and Black humans to survive in their regions. If it comes down to a bird being used as food or going hungry for the day, guess what happens?

    All you need to do is spend about 12 months in a land where there are few grocery stores to understand this very simple, but often missed concept.

    I lament the passing of yet another species. It did not go down to make way for a shopping mall or housing development however.

  6. You guys are confused. I would prefer if this bird had not been eaten and, thus, rendered more extinct than ever. HOWEVER, since someone already DID buy this bird and eat it, I hope that they at least got an enjoyable meal out of it, so that this bird’s death was not a complete waste of an adorable extinct bird. In the future, please refrain from telling me how I feel about birds, dead or alive.

  8. The article doesn’t bother to mention… but who was this bloody stupid camera crew working for? The ones who managed to recognize and film an extinct fucking bird and then watched it be sold off to be eaten? It was the Philippines – how much could it have possibly been sold for – and not one of them bought it?

    The article completely avoids mentioning whether the filming was accidental or what the crew was doing there.

    And as for @5 – I completely understand the pressures being put on people in that sort of situation, and that’s why the best efforts for preservation are the ones that tie the animals’ protection to increased well-being of the people who live around them. That doesn’t, however, make me any less annoyed at people eating a practically non-existent bird for lunch.

  9. ok, this is a sad story (and morbidly funny) but hopeful! a bird known only from drawings and museum skins in the flesh! it had to come from 2 other birds, right? so this event is the most positive thing to happen to the species since it was declared extinct. now there’s a bit more awareness, maybe funding to look for more, etc. this individual’s discovery and demise may be good news if you care to consider the bigger picture.

  11. @1 Knee-jerk classism much? The buyer was probably a typical local open-air-market customer buying something for dinner. there is nothing in the story that indicates the sellers knew it was a rare species. Rare and sometimes even previously unkown species are found in food markets through out the world. The coelacanth, a very ancient fish long thought extinct for millions of years was discovered in a fish market in Africa in the 30’s and a related species was discovered in a market thousands of miles away in Indonesia just a decade ago.

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