For this week’s mystery object I’ve decided to stick with my favourite subject of skulls. This time it’s a bird from the Dead Zoo’s collection, that was in a drawer labelled “Unidentified” – let’s fix that!
Any idea what species this skull belonged to? I have my suspicions, but I’d love to hear what you think.
As always, you can leave your clues, questions and suggestions in the comments section below. Have fun!
Zygoma 
Could it be a really good friend of a Walrus and a Carpenter?
That distinctive < at the head end of the beak leads me to suspect that this is a dabbler at the edge of the sea (or other bodies of water). A catcher of shellfish and small crustaceans with a name that implies more refined tastes. There are black ones in the Falkland Islands.
Could it help me, if I happened to lose a pearl? And then we could play a tune on its pipe and catch rats!
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsI could easily have attributed this to an OC (as mentioned in an earlier Twitter reply) but I suspect one of the rhymes-with-Franks may be a possibility too.
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsOkay, okay. “Seize Pistols world for crotchety ears at sixes and sevens.”
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsthe downward process on the proximal jaw reminds me of the mandible of a capybara… extra leverage for aforementioned food items?
Holmes would doubtless be pleased to see the efforts these birds make to keep bivalve numbers in check.
This week I had nothing early, or original, to say. So I’m saying it: I’m going with the majority…
the Malvinas have the black species too…