Sold for over 200,000 RMB, this may be the most expensive hair in the world

(Public Domain)

Recently, a media article stated that on May 22, Weber Auctions in New Zealand sold the world's most expensive feather - the tail feather of the long-extinct sickle-billed raptor, for NZ$46,521, or about RMB 206,130. The auction house said that all participants in the auction must be registered collectors and must obtain a license from the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage in advance. The "collection" cannot be taken out of the country without the permission of the Ministry of Health.

So what exactly was the sickle-billed raptor, and what caused its extinction?

The sickle-billed lop was originally distributed in the primeval forests of the North Island of New Zealand . It is a local endemic bird with an extremely narrow distribution area. They are Passeriformes, the same as the existing lop-eared crow and the North Island lop-eared crow. They are about 40 cm long, and most of their feathers are black, similar to the common crows we see, except that their tail feathers are very long, with a large section of conspicuous white at the end of the tail feathers.

Although their names also contain the word "crow", they are actually far from the Corvidae family of the Passeriformes, but are more closely related to the honeyeaters. The common feature of the lop-eared crows is that they have a brightly colored wattle on each side of their cheeks, between the upper and lower beaks. The wattles of the other two lop-eared crows are blue, while the wattle of the sickle-billed lop-eared crow is a bright orange-red.

The most interesting feature of the sickle-billed lop is the different beak shapes of males and females. The female's beak is long and curved, about 10 cm long, and the name "sickle-billed lop" comes from the female's sickle-like beak; while the male's beak is straight and short and thick, about 6 cm long. The difference between them is so great that when ornithologists first observed them in the wild, they mistook them for two different birds.

So why do sickle-billed lops have such a dimorphic beak? After research, scientists have come up with some inferences . Although these inferences cannot be called conclusive, they are obviously very convincing. The anatomical structure shows that the jaw muscles of male sickle-billed lops are much more developed than those of females. Therefore, scientists believe that male and female sickle-billed lops will cooperate in hunting . They mainly feed on grubs in the large number of dead trees in the primeval forest.

When foraging, the male sickle-billed lop will use its thick beak to peck open the hard bark, and even open the cracks of some rotten wood. The female will then extend her long and curved beak into these cracks and holes to catch the grubs or other insect larvae hiding inside. Then they will enjoy the prey together. It sounds like it takes the efforts of the couple to complete the work that a woodpecker can do, which is not very efficient. Fortunately, there are no woodpeckers in the area, otherwise the sickle-billed lop would not be able to compete with them. However, it can be seen from this that these charming birds are very likely to have a monogamous marriage system. No wonder in Maori legends, sickle-billed lops are so affectionate. If one of the couple dies unfortunately, the other will die of grief within ten days.

Of course, there are other inferences , such as this can reduce intraspecific competition between males and females because they can go to different hunting grounds and eat different foods; or beaks of different shapes can be used as features for courtship display; and it can make it easier for females to feed food to their babies... Unfortunately, since this species has become extinct, it is difficult for people to continue research on these functional, behavioral, ecological and other aspects.

The English name of the sickle-billed lop, "Huia", comes from its call . The Maori migrated from the South Pacific to New Zealand around the 13th century AD. They then discovered the sickle-billed lop and began to be deeply fascinated and even worship them. The Maori believed that these birds were smart, noble and mysterious. However, their way of worship was to kill these charming birds, take their feathers or whole furs, and give them to "the most respectable people." It was said that only the most noble people were worthy of wearing sickle-billed lop feathers. We can still see the old Maori women wearing sickle-billed lop feathers in some old photos. Fortunately, the Maori's hunting techniques and tools were not very good, so even if they killed like this for hundreds of years, they did not really cause a fatal blow to the sickle-billed lop population .

The real disaster was brought by European colonists . At the end of the 18th century, British colonists set foot on the land of New Zealand. They began to cut down the virgin forest crazily and turned the woodland into farmland. This made the sickle-billed lop-eared crow lose its key habitat and hunting grounds, because they were too dependent on the virgin forest and could not adapt to the drastic changes in the habitat in a short period of time. Around the 1880s, mammals such as rats, cats, and stoats came to New Zealand Island with the British. All of these animals would prey on sickle-billed lop-eared crows and their babies, who were not very good at flying. But these colonists did not care at all, and even felt that the "noble" European species should replace the "lowly" local species.

Records show that around 1880, the number of wild populations of sickle-billed lops dropped significantly. The rate of decline is getting faster and faster every year. Although habitat loss and invasive species are threats to almost all native animals in New Zealand, sickle-billed lops are more unfortunate than them. Yes, it is precisely because of their beautiful appearance and mysterious color in Maori culture that museums and collectors around the world have begun to flock to them and want to get their feathers or specimens by any means.

As the saying goes, where there is demand, there is a market; where there is no trade, there is no killing. People's covetousness for sickle-billed lops stimulated the colonial hunters of New Zealand, who began to use weapons much more advanced than those of the Maori to massacre sickle-billed lops on a large scale - you may find this a bit familiar, yes, just like they did to dodos and passenger pigeons in other places.

By this time, the Maori began to want to save the species, but it was too late. Moreover, if the Maori's advice had worked, how could the British colonize the entire island of New Zealand so smoothly?

In 1900, the wild population of sickle-billed lops plummeted ; in 1905, ornithologists found only about 100 in the wild; in 1907, the last time people saw this species, only three were seen at that time. Since then, this species has disappeared forever and has become a permanent taboo for the Maori. The only feathers and specimens that remain in the world are in the hands of major museums and collectors. Many people have no idea that this elegant and lovely animal once lived on Earth, and they don't know what kind of suffering they have suffered; many people still only care about the rarity of these "collections".

From the 1780s to the present, since European colonists set foot on the land of Oceania, they have caused the extinction of at least 100 species of animals and plants. Some scientists even speculate that the actual data may be 10 times the recorded data, because many species have become extinct before they have been discovered and studied.

The sickle-billed lop has bid farewell to us forever, and its two "relatives" the lop-eared crow and the North Island lop-eared crow have also reached the dangerous situation of endangered and critically endangered. New Zealanders who have awakened to the awareness of ecological protection have begun to protect it, but the effect is still unknown. This reminds me of "Dian Cui" - once, in the Qing Dynasty, the kingfisher was almost extinct due to the prevalence of Dian Cui. After the founding of New China, people's demand for Dian Cui products decreased significantly, and the kingfisher population recovered slightly. In recent years, people have sought alternative materials, such as chemical fibers, goose feathers, etc., and the imitation Dian Cui jewelry made is just as beautiful. More and more people like to observe and protect kingfishers, which is really a happy thing. We should still prevent problems from happening and not let other species go down the same tragic path as the sickle-billed lop.

This article is a work supported by the Science Popularization China Creation Cultivation Program

Author: Zhang Lv, a wildlife conservation worker

Reviewer: Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.