I don't really get it either, I get the meaning / symbology of the other birds but what is the Seriema doing there amongst them ? Is it because of the cerrado deforestation ?
@Onychorhynchus coronatus The birds themselves make sense (except for the Seriema), it's all the lines, arrows, and text snippets that are confusing! I think there's a good many ways they could have done better with this diorama.
@Great Argus Yes, they really don't help at all , do they ? I wonder if this was a rushed exhibit or something as it seems to have been done at the last minute and possibly (considering all the weird arrows) by someone hyper caffeinated
@Great Argus They could have put so many different taxidermy birds in place of the Seriema.
Zooming in to the left of the seriema is a little picture (with an arrow pointing to the specimen) of what looks like a "terror bird" which inhabited the Cenozoic era Pampas and Cerrados of South America until its extinction with the arrival of humans.
The closest living relative of the terror bird is the seriema and it is for this that I think this bird was included as part of the display. But it is a really clumsy example to use in some ways.
I must admit I didn't spend much time looking at this display and figuring things out - I just took a few photos and then moved on. There's a lot to see in the bird museum, as in a lot of interesting species represented as specimens, but I also didn't want to spend an immoderate amount of time in there.
What I think this thing is mostly is an amateurish and relatively unsuccessful attempt at explaining some very important concepts and issues. This zoo has quite a bit of amateurism so it is not surprising their educational displays wouldn't be as effective as those at other places.
I did take a quick look at the original, non-resized photo and zoomed in on it a bit. The different arrows, lines and snippets lead and point to and indicate textually different threats to and ways to conserve species. And with regards to the seriema: it is indeed there for being the closest living relative of the terror birds.
