This is very interesting because bodies of dead Thunderbirds are reported periodically and generally in Native traditions further to the West: common descriptions include such details as a skull and long bones the size of a horse's (Indian pony's)and long wing feathers the length of a human's forearm.
If this is a genuine incident and not just made up, it must have been garbled in the retelling (this often happens in secondghand reports that cross a language barrier) there are parts that do not match the usual run of Thunderbird reports and are hence dubious. However the estimated weight of 300 pounds has been mentioned before (it is one theoretical maximum weight for Argentinavis)and so has the face like a monkey (evidently the naked leathery face gives that impression, but that presupposes that the hooked beak is not mentioned also), the hairy feathers on the underparts and the long tail with a tuft of fin at the tip. None of these things sound likely to me, but since they are parts of the public record, I shall mention them here. Much of the material I am recalling was in Sanderson's files, and the bulk thereafter reprinted in Mark A. Hall's book on Thunderbirds.
This is very interesting because bodies of dead Thunderbirds are reported periodically and generally in Native traditions further to the West: common descriptions include such details as a skull and long bones the size of a horse's (Indian pony's)and long wing feathers the length of a human's forearm.
ReplyDeleteIf this is a genuine incident and not just made up, it must have been garbled in the retelling (this often happens in secondghand reports that cross a language barrier) there are parts that do not match the usual run of Thunderbird reports and are hence dubious. However the estimated weight of 300 pounds has been mentioned before (it is one theoretical maximum weight for Argentinavis)and so has the face like a monkey (evidently the naked leathery face gives that impression, but that presupposes that the hooked beak is not mentioned also), the hairy feathers on the underparts and the long tail with a tuft of fin at the tip. None of these things sound likely to me, but since they are parts of the public record, I shall mention them here. Much of the material I am recalling was in Sanderson's files, and the bulk thereafter reprinted in Mark A. Hall's book on Thunderbirds.