Even Ralfe Whistler's grandchildren affectionately call him Dodo, after the extinct flightless bird which has absorbed him for so much of his life.

Mr Whistler, 71, is a respected authority on the dodo - so much so that he has transformed his house in Battle into a shrine to the turkey-sized bird which once inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

He has scores of paintings, etchings, stamps and carpets depicting dodos with their distinctive large hooked bill, puny wings and short, thick, yellow legs.

Alongside his more orthodox collection of all things dodo, Mr Whistler also has a dodo toilet seat, dodo droppings, a red wine called dodo blood and a dodo costume with a papier mache head.

His hoard of dodo memorabilia, which he has amassed over a 15-year period from travels around the world, now over-runs his home.

Among the vast collection are seven dodo bones passed down to him by his late father, Hugh Whistler, an ornithologist who wrote several books on the creature.

The dodo became extinct by 1681 due, in part, to non-native domestic animals taken to Mauritius by settlers.

Mr Whistler said: "From a very early age I knew what dodos were, whereas a lot of my peers didn't. I used to show the bones off to people, many of whom were very interested.

"I wouldn't say I am an eccentric but other people around here probably do, including my own family.

"My grandchildren actually call me Dodo. When they went to school they would tell their teachers and friends that their grandfather was called Dodo - much to their surprise."

The Booth Museum in Brighton will show part of Mr Whistler's collection alongside other dodo exhibits towards the end of the year.