Researchers hypothesise that dodos consumed fruits, seeds, nuts, roots, bulbs, and possibly crustaceans or crabs. Due to the fact that dodos were extinct in the late 1600s, there is uncertainty. Artists’ drawings, sub-fossil bones, and one dried skull and foot are the only evidence of their appearance and physical traits.

Dodos were indigenous to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. In 1598, Dutch mariners documented the first observations of dodos. Due to their incapacity to fly, dodos were easy prey, and sailors, along with the dogs, rats, and pigs they carried with them, mercilessly hunted the birds. In 1662, the last dodo was spotted. The species became extinct so swiftly that some individuals believed they were legendary.

Scientists have proven through DNA evidence that dodos are related to pigeons. As a result of living on an island with an abundance of food and no natural predators, the birds became huge and lost their ability to fly. Artists of the time showed them as having huge heads, blue-gray plumage, little wings, sturdy yellow legs, a spray of feathers on the back, and dark bills with red-tipped hooks. They reached approximately 3 feet in height and 50 pounds in weight.