-
Scientists believe moa became extinct about 500 years ago, about 1500AD.
- Moa were flightless birds. They belonged to a primitive group of birds known as ratites. A kiwi is a ratite.
- There were 11 different species of moa.
- Moa are the only birds in the world that did not have wing bones.
- Imagine Big Bird on Sesame Street – that's about the size of the largest of moa, Dinornis giganteus. At full stretch they could reach up to three metres tall and weigh up to 250kg. These moa were rare, especially in the North Island.
- The smallest moa, Euryapteryx curtus, was about the size of a turkey. These wee moa were about 60cm high and weighed only 20kg.
- The only non-human threat to moa were the great eagles (Harpagornis moorei), which have since died out. They were the largest eagles ever to have lived.
- The upper legs of moa were prized by Maori for their delicious meat.
- There are two main reasons moa died out. A) They lost their bushland habitats, which were burned and cleared by early Maori. B) The birds were eaten by Maori until there were none left.
- Twice as many moa lived in the South Island than in the North Island.
- Moa were herbivores, which means they only ate plants.
- You pronounce moa, like the word more, NOT mower.
|
 |
| | | BOOK RESOURCES
Riley, Murdoch and Peter Flett Scaife, Kiwi and moa : New Zealand's unique flightless birds, (1983), Wellington: Viking Sevenseas
Temple, Philip and Chris Gaskin, Moa : the story of a fabulous bird, (1993), Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton
Holdaway, Richard and T.N. Worthy, The Lost World of the Moa: a prehistoric life of New Zealand, (2002), Christchurch: Canterbury University Press
McCulloch, Beverley (1992) Moa: Lost Giants of New Zealand, Harper Collins, Auckland
Video – The Mighty Moa, (2000), TVNZ/Greenstone Pictures
ARTEFACT RESOURCES
Ngira: Moa Bone Needle
Matau: Moa Bone Fish Hook
Moa: small skeleton found in cave near Mahoenui in 1965
Moa: large skeleton found in Pyramid Valley
Moa egg shell: Fragments of Moa egg shell
ARCHIVES
Field notes: Richard Cassel's field notes of excavation of the moa hunter site at Kaupokonui 1974-1978. Includes notes made on carved wooden head found that has since been lost/stolen.
WEBLINKS
Puke Ariki is not responsible for the content of these external websites.
The Kiwi Conservation Club - site for children with a page on the moa
The Moa Pages - All you could possibly want to know about the moa
| | |
|