Haast's eagle

Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), sometimes called Fuller's eagle, was an extinct species of eagle that lived on the South Island of New Zealand. It is believed to be the pouākai from Māori mythology. Haast's eagle was the largest eagle known to have ever existed, weighing between 10–18 kilograms (22–40 pounds). This is much heavier than today’s largest eagle, the harpy eagle, which weighs up to 9 kg (20 lb).

The huge size of Haast's eagle was because it hunted very large animals called moa, which could weigh as much as 200 kg (440 lb). Moa were flightless birds that lived in New Zealand.

Haast's eagle disappeared around the year 1445. This happened after the arrival of the Māori people. They hunted the moa until there were none left. They also brought Polynesian rats and set fires that destroyed many forests. Without moa and with changes to the land, Haast's eagle could not survive.

Taxonomy

Haast's eagle was first described by Julius von Haast in 1871. The bones were found by a worker at the Canterbury Museum.

The bird was named after George Henry Moore, who owned the land where the bones were found. Scientists later found that Haast's eagle is closely related to the smaller little eagle and the booted eagle, not the large wedge-tailed eagle.

Haast's eagle grew very large very quickly, which scientists think happened because it had big animals to eat and no big competitors.

Description

Haast's eagle was one of the largest known true raptors. It was even bigger than the largest living vulture, the Andean condor. Female eagles were larger than males. Most estimates say females weighed between 10–18 kg (22–40 lb) and males around 9–12 kg (20–26 lb). Even the largest living eagles are about forty percent smaller than Haast's eagles.

Haast's eagle had a shorter wingspan than you might expect for such a big bird. Grown females usually had a wingspan up to 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in), maybe even up to 3 m (10 ft) in some cases. This is similar to the wingspan of some living eagles like the wedge-tailed eagle, golden eagle, and Steller's sea eagle. Even though its wings were short, evidence shows Haast's eagle could still fly. Its short wings likely helped it move easily through New Zealand's dense shrubland and forests.

The eagle's strong legs and big muscles would have helped it take off from the ground, even with its heavy weight. Its tail was long and broad, which would have helped it stay in the air. Māori cave art shows Haast's eagle with a pale head, suggesting it might have had a bald head or shorter feathers on its head.

Behaviour and ecology

Haast's eagle mainly hunted large birds that could not fly, like the moa. These birds were much bigger than the eagle, sometimes up to fifteen times heavier. The eagle used its strong beak to tear into its prey, which could cause serious injury.

A study in 2021 showed that Haast's eagle's beak worked more like that of the Andean condor than other eagles. This suggests that after catching its prey, the eagle would use tactics similar to vultures, diving into the body to eat important internal parts. This may have helped it survive despite hunting animals much larger than itself.

Extinction

Before humans arrived in New Zealand, the only land mammals were three types of bats. Birds, including the large flightless moa, were the main animals there. Moa were like large grazers, similar to deer or cattle, and Haast's eagles hunted them.

When Māori people first arrived in New Zealand between 1250 and 1275, they hunted the moa heavily. By around 1440 to 1445, the moa had gone extinct. With their main food gone, Haast's eagles also disappeared around the same time.

Relationship with humans

Some people think these big birds are described in stories from Māori mythology, called pouākai, Hakawai, or Hōkioi in the North Island. One story tells of huge black-and-white birds with yellow-green tinged wings and a red crest. These stories say the birds might have attacked people and large flightless birds called moa. But some believe these stories might actually be about a different bird called the Austral snipe, especially an extinct kind from the South Island. Also, it’s thought pouākai might not have been Haast's eagle because this eagle did not live in the North Island.

In popular culture

You can see artwork of Haast's eagle at OceanaGold's Heritage and Art Park in Macraes, Otago, New Zealand. The sculpture is very big, standing 7.5 metres tall with a wingspan of 11.5 metres. It was made from strong steel by a sculptor named Mark Hill from Arrowtown, New Zealand. Haast's eagle was also shown in a BBC documentary called Monsters We Met from 2003.

There is another statue of Haast's eagle in Karamea, on the West Coast. The community and the Ngāti Waewae iwi unveiled this statue.