I received an interesting email from a listener at Phantoms & Monsters Radio:

Good evening, Mr. Strickler:

"I often listen to your Phantoms and Monsters podcast (found you through a recommendation from the Expanded Perspectives podcast). Usually I'm content to just listen, but I had a few notes on your recent episode on thunderbirds and other flying cryptids. I thought I'd share them in case they're of interest.

1. Re: the feathered thunderbirds spotted in Illinois and points south, many reports include a ruff of white feathers around the neck. I think there's a good candidate that doesn't require reaching so far back into the past, and that is the Andean Condor. They aren't generally local this far north, but it's possible they might occasionally stray north, and as the climate warms, their range may be expanding. Grizzly bears are now expanding so far north that they are hybridizing (very rarely) with polar bears.

Now you might point out that the size estimates often indicate a much larger bird, but I would call your attention to a female Stellar's Sea Eagle who strayed onto the Alasan coast maybe a decade ago. Her visit initially triggered a rash of alarmed reports of an enormous bird, with one report describing her as having a wingspan approximating that of a Cessna. In actuality, an adult female Stellar's Sea Eagle is only about half again as big as Bald Eagle. But if you're not someone who pays close attention to birds, and you see one unexpectedly, she's going to look enormous, and you're likely to drastically overestimate her wingspan.

2. Re: the Rhamphorhynchoid sightings.  I was really excited initially, when I first heard about these reports, but then I realized that there is one solid piece of evidence suggesting that the sightings are not what they seem. It's the same bit of evidence that speaks against other "dinosaur" sightings.  It is this. We now know that the majority of therapodian dinos and also many of the flying critters from that era -- including the Rhamphorhynchoidea -- were feathered, or more accurately, covered in primitive feather-like structures that later evolved into proper feathers. But the people who report seeing supposed surviving dinosaurs and pterosaurs don't report the animals being fuzzy or feathered. They describe them according to the outdated and inaccurate model that is still represented in fictional films and television. To me, this suggests they are not seeing the real animal.

That said, nothing would make me happier than finding out that there are real dinosaurs still out there! I hope people keep looking for them.

All the best, and thanks for all the research you do! I have great fun listening, since I found you on the recommendation of the Expanded Perspectives guys."

Wendy S.

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