[Posted by Chuck Almdale, suggested by Lillian Johnson]

Prehistoric bird once thought extinct returns to New Zealand wild.
Return of takahē – large, flightless bird – to alpine slopes of the South Island marks a conservation victory in New Zealand
By Tess McClure, 28 Aug 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/29/prehistoric-bird-once-thought-extinct-returns-to-new-zealand-wild?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Lead paragraph
Tā Tipene O’Regan, 87 years old, leaned into his carved walking stick and reached down to a large wooden box. He paused a second, then slowly lifted the lid. Out shot the hefty body of a bright turquoise bird, legs windmilling, launching from its cage like a football from a slingshot.

“I am now largely blind, but I still saw them,” O’Regan says: a flash of blue feathers and bright red legs racing for the tussocks.