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Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 2:25pm  I'm wondering how they know its diet was mostly moas. From a previous post (thanks, whoever it was) there was an illustration showing one of these eagles attacking the moa, and if the artist's rendering was accurate, the predator:prey size ratio seemed terribly out of whack. Here in North America our bald eagles eat mostly fish and our hawks feed primarily on rodents and snakes; harpy eagles tackle small monkeys, which are still smaller than they are. It's hard to imagine an eagle attacking another animal that outweighs it by several hundred pounds. Thoughts? Swamp Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: Karl posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 5:46pm  Illustration Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: MizLinda posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 7:16pm  Probably the same way a golden eagle takes a deer... they swoop down at high speed with talons clenched and hit the back of the head... knocks 'em out long enough to finish 'em off or in this case maybe even breaking the neck? Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 9:24pm  Anybody have a picture of a golden eagle taking down a deer? Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: MizLinda posted Fri, Sep 18 2009, 12:02pm  here's a shot of an after Still used for hunting in CZ Google Image Result for http://winkkk.com/iMgYt-GoEalfyMqM/pIc1.jpg There are a few videos on this link, but none of what I described... still looking for my reference... Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Fri, Sep 18 2009, 7:36pm  Cool pic, thanks. A visual always helps! Swamp Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: MizLinda posted Fri, Sep 18 2009, 10:25pm  Yep, it's hard to think a bird can do that but... a small dear, juvenile... not trying to say that they take full grown deer all the time, but, they are raptors of the first water. and back to the Haasts... seems to me a fell swoop would break the Moa's neck no matter it's size? Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Fri, Sep 18 2009, 11:18pm  I'd buy it. It's hard to imagine the cartilage between vertebrae taking a hit from that much weight at a decent velocity. That would be some pretty specialized predatory behavior, though. Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: MizLinda posted Sun, Sep 20 2009, 4:19pm  That's why they are no moa, teehee. Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: Tyranid Broodlord posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 9:29pm  don't forget this eagle was massive, probably ate some moas but don't forget there was sheep sized moas to apparently giant moa lived more in forests so i'd say it probably ate sheep sized moa but hunted giant moa occassionally. and if europeans got here before it went extinct they more than likely would have gone for sheep Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Fri, Sep 18 2009, 9:51am  Tyranid, you probably have some good information, but without syntax or punctuation I'm afraid I'm just not going to bother reading your post. Swamp Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: Tyranid Broodlord posted Mon, Sep 21 2009, 4:19pm  Moa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia here we go, a linky-link to wikipedia and yes, it does talk about predation by haast eagle Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: EastTxSwamp posted Mon, Sep 21 2009, 4:46pm  That was interesting, but the pic of the eagle attacking the larger bird just didn't look right to me. It reminded me of when a mockingbird dive bombs a cat- the prey seems way too big for the predator. I've seen video, though, of lions taking down elephants and giraffes, so I guess it could happen, if not everyday then on occasion. I'm wondering, I've seen vultures use their feet to hold carcasses still while they tear off meat. Could this be the source of clawmarks on bones? Swamp Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: Tyranid Broodlord posted Mon, Sep 21 2009, 10:39pm  using their feet to take meat off carcasses is a good theory, i think you just put half new zealand's palaeonotologists(all 3 of them) to shame, but what could be big enough to take down a moa in the first place???? a giant eagle since nz doesn't have any large native land mammals Subject: Re: Killer Big bird From: Heist posted Thu, Sep 17 2009, 9:39pm  In Te Papa, the museum in Wellington, NZ, I saw a moa pelvis with Haast eagle claw punctures. The animals in question are still quite recent, and there's plenty of information available about their lifeways.

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