A CREATURE FROM BAHAMAS

On the island of Andros in the Bahamas, descriptions of a mysterious creature known as the “chickcharney” have become embedded in local culture. Described as around one meter tall, the bizarre flightless bird-like creature is described in historic accounts, and also in modern-day sightings around the island. Reputed to have red eyes and to be capable of turning its head in any direction, the entity seems to border on implausibility. But ornithologists have identified a bizarre, extinct species of giant flightless barn owl, whose continued existence would explain legends of a large predatory bird walking around the island at night (owls are capable of turning their heads one hundred and eighty degrees in order to scan for prey). The owl is thought to be extinct, but the continuing sightings suggest that the bizarre and awesome creature may still stalk the backcountry of Andros, waiting to be rediscovered as more than the mere stuff of folk tale