Lesser Known Extinct Birds of the World... No.2: The Cushing's Sparrow

This is number two in a series of the lesser known extinct birds of the world. Interestingly this bird's entire known existence is directly linked to its name sake the actor Peter Cushing. Although the only known population of this sparrow was rendered extinct in the late 1950's, a single specimen lived until 1994.

The Cushing’s Sparrow(Passer cushingi).Other names: Horror Sparrow

French: Le Cushing’s sparrow;
German: Das Cushing’s sparrow;
Spanish: El Gorrión de Cushing;
Chinese: 麻雀的Cushing’s.


Habits: The Cushing’s sparrow was so called as its entire known population of 5000 was discovered in, and confined to the back garden of 'Hammer Horror' star and keen birdwatcher Peter Cushing, at his home in Whitstable, Kent.


After buying his Whitstable home in 1957, and the discovery of the new species, Peter often used to feed these rare birds in his garden with dried blood and scraps of cheese, on which they thrived. They all became hand-tame and lost their fear of man. He once raised an injured sparrow and kept him as a pet, naming him Boris. Boris can be seen perched on his shoulder while playing Dr. Van Helsing during the Dracula movie in 1958.

Museum Specimens of Cushing's Sparrow

Downfall: Cushing's film career began in the late 1930’s, but it was only after his screen roles as Baron Frankenstein, in The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957 and as Van Helsing in Dracula, in 1958, when he rocketed to stardom. The sleepy seaside town of Whitstable was suddenly under siege with autograph and souvenir hunters, keen to see its adopted son.

One of the most popular souvenirs available in the gift shops of the day was the ‘Peter Cushing Cushion’. A tastefully designed satin cushion with the image of Peter Cushing on the front; unfortunately for the Cushing’s Sparrow these cushions were not pre-stuffed. Hoards of fans banged at the door of the besieged film star demanding an audience and some material to stuff their prized cushions. Cushing was so overwhelmed by this brouhaha that he fled his home and went into hiding. The seething mass of fans quickly captured the sparrows plucking them of their feathers to stuff their prized cushions, until not a one remained!

Only Peter's faithful pet sparrow Boris survived and lived to be the oldest sparrow ever known, at 37 years. Peter Cushing passed away in 1994 and the last Cushing’s sparrow died hours later and was buried with him.

The 'Peter Cushing Cushion', the only known case of soft furnishings

being directly implicated in the extinction of a species.