The phenomenon of species extinction is a natural part of evolution, and a recent study suggests that the loss is not limited to individual species but extends to entire genera of animals.
Artist Todd McGrain’s bird memorial documenting a changing world can now be seen on the Stanford campus. A companion documentary film screening and musical performance are scheduled for Family Weekend.
The Lost Bird Project has landed in the garden surrounding the
Bryan Museum in
Galveston. The outdoor exhibit features five sculptures representing birds that have gone extinct. A sixth monument stands in
Galveston Island State Park.
The project is the brainchild of sculptor
Todd McGrain. Copies of the memorials have toured the country since 2008. Forgetting is another kind of extinction, he says in the feature length documentary made about his two-year struggle to permanently place the person-size bronze memorials near where the birds were last seen. Passenger Pigeon (Photo by Gerald E. McLeod)
• The
Great Auk monument stands on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, looking toward Iceland where the bird disappeared in 1844.