Dodo, << DOH doh, >> is an extinct, flightless bird resembling the pigeon. The dodo was about the size of a large turkey. Stories from sailors, early paintings, and a single complete dodo skeleton suggest the bird had short legs, an enormous beak, stubby wings, and a tuftlike tail with curly feathers. The dodo lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It laid a single egg on the ground. Two related species called solitaires lived on nearby Reunion and Rodrigues islands.
European sailors killed the birds for food. Pigs and monkeys brought to the island by Portuguese sailors during the 1500’s destroyed the eggs and ate the young. Many scholars believe the dodo died out about 1680, the Reunion solitaire about 1750, and the Rodrigues solitaire about 1800. Only one known dodo, and possibly some solitaires, were exhibited alive in Europe and served as models for paintings. The heads and feet of a few dodos are preserved in museums, but the solitaires are known only from pictures, from accounts written by travelers, and from bones that were found on Reunion and Rodrigues islands.
See also Bird (Extinct birds).
