Dodo - Behaviour and Ecology

Behaviour and Ecology

Little is known of the behaviour of the Dodo, as most contemporary descriptions are very brief. Studies of the cantilever strength of its leg bones indicate that it could run quite fast. As it was flightless and terrestrial and there were no mammalian predators or other kinds of natural enemy on Mauritius, it probably nested on the ground.

The account by François Cauche from 1651 is the only description of the egg and the call:

Cauche's account is problematic, since it also mentions that the bird he was describing had three toes and no tongue, unlike Dodos. This led some to believe that Cauche was describing a new species of Dodo ("Didus nazarenus"). The description was most probably mingled with that of a cassowary, and Cauche's writings have other inconsistencies. A mention of a "young ostrich" taken on board a ship in 1617 is the only other reference to a possible juvenile Dodo.

Because of the single-egg clutch and the bird's large size, it has been proposed that the Dodo was K-selected, meaning that it produced a low number of altricial offspring, which required parental care until they matured. Some evidence, including the large size and the fact that tropical and frugivorous birds have slower growth rates, indicates that the bird may have had a protracted development period.

The preferred habitat of the Dodo is unknown, but old descriptions suggest that it inhabited the woods on the drier coastal areas of south and west Mauritius. This view is supported by the fact that the Mare aux Songes swamp, where most Dodo remains have been found, is close to the sea in south-eastern Mauritius. Such a limited distribution across the island could well have contributed to its extinction. A 1601 map from the Gelderland journal shows a small island off the coast of Mauritius where Dodos were caught. It has been suggested this island was in Tamarin Bay, on the west coast of Mauritius. Subfossil bones have also been found inside caves in highland areas, indicating that it once occurred on mountains. Work at the Mare aux Songes swamp has shown that its habitat was dominated by tambalacoque and Pandanus trees and endemic palms.

Many endemic species of Mauritius became extinct after the arrival of humans, so the ecosystem of the island is badly damaged and hard to reconstruct. Before humans arrived, Mauritius was entirely covered in forests, but very little remains of them today, because of deforestation. The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened. The Dodo lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the flightless Red Rail, the Broad-billed Parrot, Thirioux's Grey Parrot, the Mauritius Blue Pigeon, the Mauritius Owl, the Mascarene Coot, the Mauritian Shelduck, the Mauritian Duck, and the Mauritius Night Heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the Saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian Giant Skink, and the Round Island Burrowing Boa. The Small Mauritian Flying Fox and the snail Tropidophora carinata lived on Mauritius and Réunion, but vanished from both islands. Some plants, such as Casearia tinifolia and the Palm Orchid, have also become extinct.