Lost Again

An interesting documentary focusing on an admirable effort is about to come out. Tomorrow, in New York City, Lost Birds will make its debut.

The film chronicles sculptor Todd McGrain's campaign (The Lost Bird Project) to place his sculptures of five extinct North American bird species near the place each species was last seen in the wild. McGrain says he made the sculptures to keep the birds, including the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck, the great auk, and the heath hen, from going extinct for a second time, this time from our memory. He thinks (and I agree) that remembering the birds' extinction is important to honoring those species and to how we approach our relationships with species that still exist today.

I hope the film's release widens to the rest of the country (and the world) soon. Be on the lookout for it. I'll try to post about it again if I hear more. Here is the trailer: