Carolina Parakeets, Eastern U.S.
Artist Christy Rupp is not afraid of death. She revels in it, and her latest work--"Extinct Birds Previously Consumed by Humans"--uses the remains of the recently dead to recreate long-gone creatures. Her morbid, provocative sculptures are part of the show "Dead and Alive," currently on exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.
Rupp spent the last four years collecting chicken and turkey bones, and then meticulously assembled them into life-size representations of extinct birds. These Carolina parakeets, the only parrot native to the continental United States, once flew in large noisy flocks, feeding on agricultural crops. Farmers retaliated with their shotguns, and milliners took the green and yellow feathers to adorn ladies' hats. By 1920, the Carolina parakeets were gone.