From: John C.
Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 00:07:58 -0800 (PST)
To: Jessica Morton <jmorton@mhs.mendocino.k12.ca.us>
Subject: Re: flying

Flightless birds are fascinating. One of the most famous flightless birds
was the dodo. Sadly, there aren't any more dodos. It's a shame, because
the dodo was a truly amazing bird.

Another flightless bird that isn't around anymore is the moa. It stood
nearly 10 feet tall! Think of that. And the great auk used to dive and
frolic in the North Atlantic, flapping its wings to "fly" underwater.
Flightless birds, to me, are like ambassadors from another age, a murky,
faraway time when there still were dinosaurs on the earth.
You can find ostriches and emus at the zoo. (Except if you're Scott, in
which case you find them at your neighbors' house! I wish I could visit an
ostrich farm.)

During the same trip to the zoo you might be lucky enough to see a penguin
or a kiwi or a cassowary. As far as seeing a wild flightless bird in
California, the closest you're probably going to come is a roadrunner
(beep! beep!), which doesn't really count, since roadrunners can fly a
short distance if they need to, though they don't usually need to since
they're so fast. If you make a trip to the desert and are lucky enough to
see a roadrunner, try chasing it. I dare you. Heh.

Naomi's right. Flightless birds are heavyweights in the bird world. And
overall, there aren't too many of them. These days, wild flightless birds
are found in only two kinds of places: wide open spaces, like the deserts
where roadrunners and ostriches live, or islands. I'd be interested in
hearing what you think about why flightless birds don't live in other
places.

Nice to hear from you! Watch out for those storms.

John C.

On Tue, 28 Feb 1995, Jessica Morton wrote:
> Dear Mr. Callender,
> Scott wants to know how many birds can't fly and why they can't fly. Naomi
knows
> that ostriches can't fly because they are way too heavy! Scott has neighbors
who
> have ostriches.
>
> Jessica Morton