What made the Moa so Unique?
It is the only bird species that do not have wings. Yes, there other birds that are flightless but they have wings. Whether that be small or large wings, but they had wings. With the Moa, they did not have wings. Not even a wing bone. That meant they were flightless. They make up for their limitation of not being able to fly, with their height which can reach up to 12ft.
Who is the Moa believed to be related to?
Moas have relations to the Tinamous birds of South America. Scientists examined the Moas DNA material and determined that it had similarities to the Tinamous birds of South America. The Moas have similarities to the Emu in terms of structure and the Kiwi bird is like the Moa regarding shape.
Diet, habitat, and behaviour:
Diet: New Zealand’s abundance of natural vegetation meant the Moas were herbivores. They liked ferns the most. The strange aspect of the Moas is that they would intentionally swallow stones/pebbles to help them digest the plant’s materials. They eat twigs, and leaves, using their sharp beaks to remove the undesirable leaves and branches.
Habitat: Based on research on most of the Moa species liked to live in the forest areas, while other Moa species liked to live in certain types of grasslands.
Predators: The extinct Haast Eagle used to eat the Moa. Other than the Haast Eagle, that went extinct after the Moa’s extinction, the only real predators the Moa had were humans.
Mating: The Moa’s breeding habits are a bit of a mystery as there have been only 30 intact eggs or fragments of the Moas eggs that researchers examined. There are a few facts that scientists have confirmed.
The Moas used to build their nests on ground level which made it easy for humans and egg thieves. The Moas never nested in the Trees. Another fact about the Moa is that they took a long time to reach mature, i.e., about 9 full years. They never reached full size until they were 3 years.
When did the Moa become extinct?
Researchers believe that the Moa went extinct at around the year by 1400 B.C. Moas, which is less than 200 years after the first humans arrived in New Zealand.
Great information about Moa. Thanks for sharing.