Haast’s eagle was one of the few predators on the islands. Its bones were first unearthed in the 1860s by farm workers draining a swamp. ... Māori oral tradition remembers the giant raptor.

None of these examples, however, could menace human beings from the sky, which is exactly what a giant bird known as the Haast's eagle did. This huge apex predator once terrorized New Zealand's ...

Haast’s eagle, the largest eagle ever known, once ruled New Zealand's skies, preying on giant moa. This formidable predator, potentially inspiring Māori legends, vanished due to prey loss.

Haast's eagle was quite a giant among birds of prey. Its wingspan could spread up to 3 meters and its body weight was up to 15 kilograms. Any eagle species that is alive in the present is smaller.

But to find the biggest known eagle, you’d have to search back to the 1400s, when the behemoth Haast’s eagle was still circling the skies of New Zealand. Here’s its story, and the reason why ...