The sightings themselves are not all recent, but the reports are

“Pterodactyl” in California

Well, I think it rather obvious what people mean when they describe the wings of a flying creature as like those of a bat: The wings have no feathers. The “long woolly tail” is interesting, perhaps meaning the creature’s tail had hair; some pterosaur fossils show evidence of hair. Is was obviously no bat, being described as the size of a horse.

“New Pterosaur Sightings“

North Carolina and Spain have had sightings, as indicated in this post.

New Zealand Pterosaurs

One or more species of pterosaur may live in New Zealand. Even though it is more than a thousand miles from Australia, where many eyewitnesses have seen apparent modern pterosaurs, those creatures would have little difficulty crossing that distance, over a number of centuries.

 “She became aware of a little creature sitting next to her,” but gave it little attention at first. She thought it to be just a small green bird with a long tail. When it became noisy, she tried to shoo it away, whereupon the creature bit her finger, spread its leathery wings, and flew away.

Pterosaurs in Canada

In British Columbia, to be specific.

The creature was larger than any bird the eyewitness had ever before seen. It had a long tail “with something on the end of it just like the Ropen. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the wings and they weren’t feathers, they were like huge bat wings.”

Another sighting mentioned there, was in the Cariboo area of British Columbia.

Significance of Recent Reports

I think that new sighting reports strongly support the work of cryptozoologist who believe in modern pterosaurs. If large pterosaurs live anywhere on the planet, in modern times, they should live all over the planet, should they not? How can they be confined to any one island? Recent reports support this: Those flying cryptids, I say “cryptids” because they are not yet acknowledged in traditional scientific culture, are now reported in various countries around the globe.

New Zealand Flying Slasher

A recent post on the blog Pterosaur Eyewitness, titled “Misidentification,” refers to the “New Zealand Flying Slasher.” The post deals with the potential for misidentifying common things as modern pterosaurs, and this sub-category brings up the concept that those flying “reptiles” may live in New Zealand. Whitcomb refutes both the misidentified bat concept and the misidentified eagle concept.

What interests me is the concept that one or more species of pterosaur may live in New Zealand. Even though it is more than a thousand miles from Australia, where many eyewitnesses have seen apparent modern pterosaurs, those creatures would have little difficulty crossing that distance, over a number of centuries. With each deathly failure of a wandering flyer, another wanderer would follow, with some of them eventually succeeding in crossing that stretch of ocean.

Another Report of Pterosaurs in New Zealand

Someone with the pen name “Undeadskeptic” did some research and uncovered several accounts that suggest pterosaurs may live in New Zealand. No references are given for those stories, but I found it interesting that the one doing the research and reporting all those potential sightings is a skeptic. I refer to those stories that interest me the most.

“The bird that bit Catherine” involves a child who was reading while sitting on a fence. “She became aware of a little creature sitting next to her,” but gave it little attention at first. She thought it to be just a small green bird with a long tail. When it became noisy, she tried to shoo it away, whereupon the creature bit her finger, spread its leathery wings, and flew away. She then realized how unusual it was and ran to tell her father that she had seen a “dinosaur.” I think that story deserves looking into.

Another account reported by “Undeadskeptic” involves a man and his wife who, in 1981, witnessed one of their pigs, a large piglet, being attacked by a “bat-like” creature with a “long beak.” The farm animal died and the flying creature flew away.

Report Your Sighting

Should anyone in New Zealand have a pterosaur sighting to report, I would advise that person to report the sighting to Jonathan Whitcomb through the email form of Live Pterosaur. I give the same advice regardless of the country involved.