Moa / Dinornis (Dinornis giganteus)

The Moa

This amazing creature is now extinct, which happened sometime around the 1800s. It was a very large, flightless bird. They inhabited the North Island of New Zealand.

This moa stood 2.5 metres tall, had a long neck and a large triangular beak. The average weight of this huge bird would have been around 110kg, but research has predicted that some of the birds could have weighed up to 200 kg. This herbivore fed on seeds and fruit.

Did you know? The dinornis does not show any trace of ever having wings.

This makes the bird very unique, as flightless birds usually have very small wing or wishbones to show that at some point they had able wings.

Did you know? Moa eggs have been found at prehistoric Maori camps where they were thought to have been cooked and eaten.

Did you know? The dinornis ate stones to aid in the digestion process.

This bird is a moa. A moa is described as giant flightless bird. Within the dinornis family of moas, there is the dinornis giganteus (Giant Moa), dinornis novaezealandiae (Large Bush Moa) and the dinornis struthoides (Slender Bush Moa). Another species is also known, the dinornis maximus (Giant Moa) which were said to have lived on the South Island of New Zealand. There is no concrete evidence that the dinornis maximus and the dinornis giganteus are in fact the same species.

A British palaeontologist name the species after being sent a box of bones from a missionary. The name dinornis maximus translates to: dinornis (surprised or terrible bird) and maximus (giant).

The dinornis became extinct due to hunting by humans, and predatory animals such as the largest eagle that ever lived, the Haast Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) which is also now extinct.

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