Extinction of Haast's eagle: The largest eagle that lived 500 years ago

The South Island of New Zealand was once home to the extinct Haast's eagle, also called Hieraaetus moorei. Weighing about 10-18 kilos (22-40 pounds), it is the largest eagle to ever exist

For a very long time, New Zealand has been referred to as a place for the birds. The archipelago had a unique environment with almost no mammals before humans arrived 700 years ago. A separate food web was occupied by more than 200 bird species. Instead of antelopes or cows, there was a family of birds called moa that could not fly. 

There was one bird that ruled them all–the Haast's eagle, which acted as the apex predator, same as the tigers are in jungles today. Julius Haast, the explorer and geologist after whom the bird was named, described the eagle as “a raptorial bird of enormous dimensions.”

Haast’s eagle, the long-extinct bird which has puzzled researchers, is only preserved in a few skeletons and other fragments. The topic of whether such a gigantic bird could fly was debated for almost a century; even when that feud was resolved, there were still uncertainties about whether the bird could kill moa, which in some situations would have been more than 15 times larger than the eagle itself. So let's find out more about the Haast’s eagle who is ruling the world of birds. x

Haast’s eagle: The deadliest eagle to ever exist

Haast's eagle was a formidable predator. It was much bigger in weight and length than the largest vultures that are still alive, such as the black vulture or the Andean condor. 

For its size, its wingspan was rather short. The grown female's average length is thought to have been 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in), with some birds possibly reaching up to 3 m (10 ft). Like other forest-dwelling raptors like goshawks or harpy eagles, Haast's eagles most likely hunted in New Zealand's deep woods and shrublands.

Haast's eagles can be directly compared to extant eagles thanks to some of their wing and leg remains. With a front-left talon length of 4.9 to 6.15 cm (1+15⁄16 to 2+7⁄16 in) and a hallux-claw that may have reached 11 cm (4+1⁄2 in), the Haast's eagle's talons resembled those of the harpy eagle.

What is the behaviour of the Haast's eagles?

The moa was one of the huge, flightless bird species that the Haast's eagle preyed on most, which finally caused the species to go extinct. Moa was up to fifteen times the weight of its predator, the Haast’s eagle, whose enormous beak could potentially tear into its prey's internal organs, causing blood loss that would have led to death. 

A Haast's eagle could have easily monopolised a single enormous kill over several days because there were no other large predators or kleptoparasites around. The moa, its prey, had a maximum weight of 200 kg (440 lb). 

According to a 2021 analysis, the Haast's eagle's bill functioned more like that of the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) than it did like other eagles. The Haast's eagle has a pale head. 

Haast's eagles: Relationship with humans

Some people think that these birds, known as pouākai and hakawai (or Hōkioi on the North Island), are mentioned in numerous Māori mythological narratives. An early governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey, was told that the Hōkioi were large, black-and-white birds with a crimson crown and wings that were tinted with yellow-green. 

According to Māori mythology, Pouākai would hunt and kill both humans and moa. Given the eagle's enormous size and power, scientists think this could have been conceivable if the term had something to do with the bird. Nonetheless, others have contended that the Austral snipe, namely the extinct South Island species, is the subject of the "hakawai" and "hōkioi" stories.