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Description
During dusk in a 14th Century day on South Island, New Zealand, a Maori man attempts to hunt one of the strange animals on his home land but ends up getting killed by another giant beast on his first daysin a new land. This Maori is one of the first humans to have reached New Zealand, having settled here after days on boats drifting on the surface of the Pacific Ocean with some other people of his tribe, and in their new home this tribe is still trying to figure out how to survive among New Zealand's strange creatures. This Maori hunter had been trying to bring down a South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus), a massive flightless bird and one of the largest birds ever, as well as the first one this man has seen. However the man is suddenly snatched away by a huge Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) that sinks its massive talons into his flesh and flies off with his body, passing the moa the man wanted to kill as it does so.

Drawing for Prehistoric Flyers Week (mobile.twitter.com/EDGEinthewi… ) again. This time a drawing requested by HollyberryMantis (www.deviantart.com/hollyberrym… ) on my profile page who asked to see a Haast's eagle attacking a Maori person.

The largest extant bird of prey is the harpy eagle of South America which is capable of hunting even large monkeys, but up until the 15th Century this title was held by a different, even bigger bird. The Haast's eagle possibly weighed 15 kilograms, compared to the 9-kilogram weight of the harpy eagle, and while the Haast's has a wingspan of "only" 2.6 meters, this is because it was a forest animal whose comparatively short wings helped it dodge through trees and branches and the animal was overall bulkier than any other eagle (even the ones with greater wingspans). Haast's eagle lived exclusively on South Island of New Zealand, and hunted mainly large flightless birds called moas. Its main prey would have been medium-sized species of moa, but fossil evidence shows that even the very largest South Island giant moa, the tallest bird to have ever existed which grew up to 3.6 meters tall when the neck was stretched right up, was not safe from the talons of the massive eagle. Apart from relatively short wings, other odd proportions of this eagle included large feet for its size, likely making it easier to kill moa bigger than itself. The Haast's eagle would have been New Zealand's largest predatory animal and almost every other animal in the country was prey to it, which may even have included the first human settlers of the nation. Ironically, while once placed in its own genus Harpagornis, genetic analysis suggests the humongous Haast's eagle actually belongs in the genus Hieraaetus along with the extant little eagle and pygmy eagle which are some of the smaller extant eagles.

The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of Mew Zealand and still exist today. Archeological evidence suggests they first colonized New Zealand between 1320 and 1350, so up until just 700 years ago New Zealand had no human inhabitants. The Maori first settled on New Zealand by arriving on boats from other Pacific islands, and surely they would've been quite amazed by the native wildlife when they first encountered them. The tallest birds ever and massive eagles must have been quite a sight, but unfortunately they were likely the only people to have ever seen much of it. Maori people hunted the moas to extinction for food, and the Haast's eagle which preyed mainly on moas soon died out as well from running out of prey, and between 1400 and 1500 both moas and the giant eagles became extinct before either were ever seen by European settlers.

While the Maori were capable hunters that even hunted the tallest ever birds for food, it is possible they themselves occasionally fell prey to the Haast's eagle. Given how golden eagles are known to hunt deer and goats, and that Haast's eagle could kill even adult giant moa, a Haast's eagle would have been well capable of killing a full-grown man. Maori mythology also speaks of a giant bird monster called the Poukai or Pouakai, which would kill and eat humans. The Haast's eagle likely inspired these legends and probably did indeed, at least on occasion, kill and eat Maori people.

Description
During dusk in a 14th Century day on South Island, New Zealand, a Maori man attempts to hunt one of the strange animals on his home land but ends up getting killed by another giant beast on his first daysin a new land. This Maori is one of the first humans to have reached New Zealand, having settled here after days on boats drifting on the surface of the Pacific Ocean with some other people of his tribe, and in their new home this tribe is still trying to figure out how to survive among New Zealand's strange creatures. This Maori hunter had been trying to bring down a South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus), a massive flightless bird and one of the largest birds ever, as well as the first one this man has seen. However the man is suddenly snatched away by a huge Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) that sinks its massive talons into his flesh and flies off with his body, passing the moa the man wanted to kill as it does so.

Drawing for Prehistoric Flyers Week (mobile.twitter.com/EDGEinthewi… ) again. This time a drawing requested by HollyberryMantis (www.deviantart.com/hollyberrym… ) on my profile page who asked to see a Haast's eagle attacking a Maori person.

The largest extant bird of prey is the harpy eagle of South America which is capable of hunting even large monkeys, but up until the 15th Century this title was held by a different, even bigger bird. The Haast's eagle possibly weighed 15 kilograms, compared to the 9-kilogram weight of the harpy eagle, and while the Haast's has a wingspan of "only" 2.6 meters, this is because it was a forest animal whose comparatively short wings helped it dodge through trees and branches and the animal was overall bulkier than any other eagle (even the ones with greater wingspans). Haast's eagle lived exclusively on South Island of New Zealand, and hunted mainly large flightless birds called moas. Its main prey would have been medium-sized species of moa, but fossil evidence shows that even the very largest South Island giant moa, the tallest bird to have ever existed which grew up to 3.6 meters tall when the neck was stretched right up, was not safe from the talons of the massive eagle. Apart from relatively short wings, other odd proportions of this eagle included large feet for its size, likely making it easier to kill moa bigger than itself. The Haast's eagle would have been New Zealand's largest predatory animal and almost every other animal in the country was prey to it, which may even have included the first human settlers of the nation. Ironically, while once placed in its own genus Harpagornis, genetic analysis suggests the humongous Haast's eagle actually belongs in the genus Hieraaetus along with the extant little eagle and pygmy eagle which are some of the smaller extant eagles.

The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of Mew Zealand and still exist today. Archeological evidence suggests they first colonized New Zealand between 1320 and 1350, so up until just 700 years ago New Zealand had no human inhabitants. The Maori first settled on New Zealand by arriving on boats from other Pacific islands, and surely they would've been quite amazed by the native wildlife when they first encountered them. The tallest birds ever and massive eagles must have been quite a sight, but unfortunately they were likely the only people to have ever seen much of it. Maori people hunted the moas to extinction for food, and the Haast's eagle which preyed mainly on moas soon died out as well from running out of prey, and between 1400 and 1500 both moas and the giant eagles became extinct before either were ever seen by European settlers.

While the Maori were capable hunters that even hunted the tallest ever birds for food, it is possible they themselves occasionally fell prey to the Haast's eagle. Given how golden eagles are known to hunt deer and goats, and that Haast's eagle could kill even adult giant moa, a Haast's eagle would have been well capable of killing a full-grown man. Maori mythology also speaks of a giant bird monster called the Poukai or Pouakai, which would kill and eat humans. The Haast's eagle likely inspired these legends and probably did indeed, at least on occasion, kill and eat Maori people.