Skip to main content

Some extinct birds in the University of the Philippines (UP) and nearby areas


These birds once identified the sports teams and their ideals. Some still survive like Ateneo's Blue Eagle ( a stuffed real one is supposed to be in the university's Biology museum) and are in no danger of extirpation no matter how many Green Archers try to shoot it down. Some unfortunately are extinct or endangered three of them are in UP.


Here is a list of birds that are gone and are extinct or in the process of being one. The UP has to institute conservation measures, ASAP!


1) University of the Philippines parrot (Parrotus garrulous tibak)

In the 1960s my uncles and aunts (who were studying at UP went to the UAAP games with the UP Parrot on their jackets and notebooks). The parrot became endangered in the 1970s and probably went extinct right after the EDSA revolution. It was last spotted being sold at the Miranda and Sons bookstore at the Dilimall a.k.a Shopping Center in the late 1980s. I tried to Google for an image and couldn't find any. Perhaps President Roman can have it cloned for the UP Centennial! The parrot is believed to have evolved from the critically endangered UP Eagle that still sits near the entrance of the Main Library. The species is iconic of a species of student that were once the dominant kind but are now ideologically endangered and may go extinct within the next semester or so , the tibaks!

2) UP eagle (Aquila imperialismus dilimanensis)

The eagle is critically endangered and had its glory days during the Empire Days. An introduced species during the American colonial period, it became predominant. With the anti-imperialist angst of the last 40 years or so, the eagle lost its habitat and has its last roost in Quezon and Gonzales halls. It has received protection from the Philippine Intellectual Property Office as the official bird of the University.


3) The Oblation "bird". (incertae sedis)

Well it failed to hatch, show itself and fly after UP President Jorge Bocobo in 1939 ordered that a fig leaf be placed on top of it, thereby imprisoning it forever. The scence was recently immortalized in the recent UP centennial extravaganza "Pamantasang Hirang". Liberals believe that unless the bird is set free, the university will never be free. The gay community wholeheartedly agrees.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How should we remember General Antonio Luna?

Well it seems with that proposal to rename Camp Aguinaldo to Camp Antonio Luna in time for National Heroes Day has generated a lot of social media buzz. We really have to really understand our national heroes. Antonio Luna was a remarkable personality but like all of us was flawed. He likely would be an academic had the revolution not intervened. He would have been the first Dean of a College of Science of the Philippine University had the nation made the transition to indepe ndence in a peaceful manner. That was recognized by the American College of Pharmacy when they feted Dr Luna on what would have been his 60th birthday noting his work in combating malaria. But that was not to be. He became a soldier. General Luna was for a professional military within the bounds of the constitution. Perhaps that is the biggest sign of contradiction for today. Please answer the question: Would President Duterte (or a President Aquino, Marcos, Arroyo, Quezon etc) have a General Luna as his c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

"So often have we been haunted by the spectre of subversion which, with some fostering, has come to be a positive and real being, whose very name steals our serenity and makes us commit the greatest blunders... If before the reality, instead of changing the fear of one is increased, and the confusion of the other is exacerbated, then they must be left in the hands of time..." Dr Jose Rizal "To the Filipino People and their Government" Jose Rizal dominates the Luneta, which is sacred to the Philippine nation as a place of martyrdom. And many perhaps all of those executed in the Luneta, with the exception of the three Filipino secular priests martyred in 1872, have read Rizal's  El Filibusterismo . Dr Rizal's second novel is a darker and more sinister one that its prequel but has much significance across the century and more after it was published for it preaches the need for revolution with caveats,  which are when the time is right and who will in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marikina River and the "janitor" fish

My newest environmental science research project is to determine the evolutionary biology of invasion by the "janitor fish" in Marikina River. Today we made our first survey and collections. Marikina River is the"greenest"in Metro Manila but that is just on the surface. One master's student is doing her thesis on biotic integrity and a volunteer MD is working on the project too. The "janitor fish (Pterygoplichthys sp) is the dominant fish now in the river,displacing traditional Marikina food fishes such as dalag and hito. The fish are collected and left to rot on the riverbanks. Despite this, there is still some subsistence fishing on the river. The highest densities of the fish are observed near sewage outfalls where they find food to eat. It is likely that the fish can be controlled if we can clean up the river! BTW the name "janitor fish" insults janitors. The fish thrive in dirty rivers and don't clean them up. Janitors on the other hand, ...
Post a Comment
Read more