A British carrier pigeon was en route to deliver a coded message during World War II when it apparently fell down a chimney. The current owner of the chimney, David Martin of Surrey, England, found the bones of that pigeon 70 years later, with the message still attached to his leg.

Experts say the red capsule Mr Martin found is the type used by the Special Operations Executive. Their human agents undertook sabotage missions such as blowing up trains, bridges and factories in German-occupied territory.

The message was written by a Sergeant W Stott and contains  columns of groups of five letters.  It is thought that its intended recipient, ‘X02’, is code for Bomber Command.

One theory is that the message may have been requesting a bombing raid somewhere. Another is that the pigeon was bound for Field Marshal Montgomery’s HQ in Reigate, Surrey, from where he planned the D-Day landings.

Because the message is in code, it is assumed that the pigeon flew back to England from Nazi-occupied Europe. The code has been sent to the government intelligence center that worked to crack the Nazi Enigma code during the war. Link -via Metafilter

Let me introduce you to the most interesting bird in the world, the ʻĀkohekohe (Palmeria dolei). This critically endangered bird is only found on the island of Maui in Hawaii. There are about 3,800 individuals in two separate populations on Maui. It has distinctive calls from the "whee-o, whee-o" to the "tjook, tjook, chouroup" and even a rarely heard "hur-hur-hur-gluk-gluk-gluk".

The bird, sadly, is on the decline. Deforestation of the ʻĀkohekohe's natural habitat is one factor. Another is due to the bird's unique colors, it is very desirable to collectors and poachers. Competition from nonnative species that have been introduced to the ecosystem has also hurt the ʻĀkohekohe. Finally, in the 1900s mosquitoes were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands and the diseases they carry have been deadly to these magnificent birds.

Conservation efforts are under way and the species is under the protection of the Federal Endangered Species Act.

-Via The Featured Creature

(YouTube link)

The Meat Wizard sings about bacon in an animated tribute to the salty little pig strip from Jonti Picking of Weebl's Stuff. -via The Daily What