Mar

The Lost Bird Project

Artist Todd McGrain was so moved by the tragedy of extinction that he created “The Lost Bird Project” to honor and immortalize North American birds that have been driven to extinction. Four of his iconic bronze sculptures were installed in the Enid A. Haupt Garden March 27, where they will remain for a year as a silent testament to the loss of the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck, the great auk and the heath hen. A fourth sculpture honoring the passenger pigeon will be installed in the Urban Habitat Garden at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Smithsonian Libraries will also present, “Once There Were Billions: Vanished Birds of North America,” at the Natural History Museum beginning June 24. The exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of Martha the passenger pigeon, the last member of a species that once filled America’s skies.

Lost Bird Project trailer from Lost Bird Project on Vimeo.

In addition, the Smithsonian Libraries will screen “The Lost Bird Project” documentary at the National Museum of Natural History Nov. 20. It tells the story of the five bird species and follows McGrain’s efforts to install his sculptures in locations where the birds were last seen. The film will be followed by a brief talk by the artist and a book signing.

: Artist Todd McGrain in his studio. His sculptures of of the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck, the great auk, the heath hen and the passenger pigeon will be on display in the Enid A. Haupt Garden through March 15, 2015. (Photo courtesy of The Lost Bird Project)

: The editioned set of sculptures for the traveling exhibition of The Lost Bird Project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 2009. (Photo courtesy of The Lost Bird Project)