The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), also called the owl-parrot, is a large, night-active parrot that lives on the ground. It belongs to the superfamily Strigopoidea and is found only in New Zealand. Kākāpō can grow up to 64 centimeters (25 inches) long.
Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), also called the indigo macaw, is a large, bright blue parrot from Brazil. It belongs to a group of parrots called macaws, which are found in the Neotropical region. The bird was first described by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856.
The Cuban amazon (Amazona leucocephala), also called the Cuban parrot and the rose-throated parrot, is a medium-sized green parrot that lives in forests and dry areas of Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Although they have been seen in the wild in Puerto Rico, these birds are likely from escaped pets, and no baby parrots have been born there.
The Puerto Rican amazon (Amazona vittata), also called the Puerto Rican parrot (Spanish: cotorra puertorriqueña) or iguaca (Taíno), is the only parrot species that lives only in Puerto Rico. It grows to be 28–30 cm (11.0–11.8 in) long and is mainly green with a red forehead and white rings around its eyes. It belongs to the Neotropical genus Amazona, and its closest relatives are the Cuban amazon (Amazona leucocephala) and the Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis).
The Guam rail (Gallirallus owstoni), called ko’ko’ in the Chamorro language, is a small bird that lives on the ground and is found only in Guam. It belongs to the Rallidae family and is one of the few bird species native to the island. In the early 1980s, the species disappeared from the wild because scientists captured the last remaining birds to start a breeding program.
Lonesome George (Spanish: Solitario George or Jorge, c. 1910 – June 24, 2012) was a male Pinta Island tortoise (scientific name: Chelonoidis niger abingdonii) and the final known member of his subspecies. In his later years, he was recognized as the rarest living creature on Earth.
Bachman’s warbler (Vermivora bachmanii) is a type of bird that may no longer exist. This warbler traveled long distances, nesting in wet areas with blackberry and cane plants in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and spending winters in Cuba. Some people have reported seeing the bird in the 21st century, but these reports are not widely accepted.
The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is a type of woodpecker found in the southern United States and Cuba. The destruction of their homes and hunting have greatly reduced their numbers. The last widely accepted sighting in the United States was in 1944, and the last widely accepted sighting in Cuba was in 1987.
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a bird that could not fly and is no longer alive. It lived only on the island of Mauritius, which is located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo was closely related to another extinct bird called the Rodrigues solitaire.
Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was an extinct sea animal first discovered by Georg Wilhelm Steller in 1741. At that time, it lived only near the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia. Earlier, during the Pleistocene epoch, its range covered much of the North Pacific, but it likely became restricted to a smaller area due to changes in ice ages.