![]() Others debated whether the birds were adapting to becoming more like a vulture to specialise in feeding on animal carcasses, and if it would even have been capable of hunting the moa. Due to its relatively small wingspan when compared to its large body, some have suggested it might have been flightless, or could only fly for short periods, similar to the largest owl which ever lived, the Cuban giant owl. Haast's eagle's large size has led to plenty of speculation over the years. It generally favours smaller species, with large species showing a reverse trend of miniaturisation to survive. This is a process known as island gigantism, where smaller species grow bigger to take advantage of their new environment. It's fair to call it a flying tiger, filling the big predator niche.' 'It's the fastest size gain we know of in a raptor and practically in any vertebrate. 'But to tackle them it had to evolve to a larger size in under two million years. 'Small eagles getting blown out to New Zealand would have found a very strong niche available with large prey so abundant,' Joanne says. Joanne says that it was 'quite a shock' when DNA evidence showed that it was instead closely related to the little eagle – one of Australia's smallest. Initially, its enormous size had been explained through suggestions it was closely related to the wedge-tailed eagle, the largest bird of prey currently living in Australia. With a wingspan of up to three metres, it would have been a spectacular sight on New Zealand for hundreds of thousands of years. ![]() Haast's eagle was unlike any bird of prey living today. The findings of the international team of researchers were published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It couldn't carry a moa so the eagle has vulture-like features which allow it to eat its prey immediately, while the business-like talons allow it to attack its prey in the first place.' 'When hunting the moa, which could weigh up hundreds of kilograms, the eagle was tackling a problem which no other raptor has had to face. Haast's eagle was a 15-kilogram bird of prey that lived in New Zealand until around 700 years ago and is believed to have preyed on the moa, an extinct group of birds that could measure up to four metres tall.Ī new paper suggests that the challenges of tackling large prey led to the eagles' unusual body shape, which has baffled scientists for centuries.ĭr Joanne Cooper, who is a Senior Curator of Birds at the Museum and was not involved in the research, says, 'It's always been a puzzle with Haast's eagle as the head end looks quite vulture-like while the feet end looks very eagle-like. The world's largest-ever eagle acted like a vulture-raptor hybrid, taking down prey before eating its insides.
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