Maori myth of giant eagle confirmed - General Tiki

LL Limbo Lizard Tiki Socialite Aboard the 'Leaky Tiki', Dallas Joined: Aug 24, 2006 Posts: 788	LL Limbo Lizard Posted posted on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 4:33 PM On 2009-09-15 12:55, MadDogMike wrote: "Limbo, their chief prey was the 9 foot tall, 500 lb moa bird... " Could be wrong, but I suspect their chief prey was more like the 2 or 3 foot tall, 20 to 40 lb. baby moa bird. Raptors seem to want prey they can carry away to somewhere safe, rather than be vulnerable on the ground, competing with, say, a pack of wild dogs for the food it just killed. I don't know what other animals there are (or were) in N.Z. at the time, though. Maybe it didn't have anything to compete with, if it just sat there, picking pieces out of a several hundred pound moa.

On 2009-09-15 12:55, MadDogMike wrote:
"Limbo, their chief prey was the 9 foot tall, 500 lb moa bird... "

Could be wrong, but I suspect their chief prey was more like the 2 or 3 foot tall, 20 to 40 lb. baby moa bird. Raptors seem to want prey they can carry away to somewhere safe, rather than be vulnerable on the ground, competing with, say, a pack of wild dogs for the food it just killed. I don't know what other animals there are (or were) in N.Z. at the time, though. Maybe it didn't have anything to compete with, if it just sat there, picking pieces out of a several hundred pound moa.

Post #483776 by Limbo Lizard on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 4:33 PM