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The hand of Quinn Berentson holding a claw of the giant, extinct Haast’s Eagle. Photo: Supplied <\/p>\nDunedin author, documentarian\u00a0\u00a0and design lecturer Quinn Berentson\u00a0\u00a0has had a life-long fascination with the New Zealand bush and the extraordinary creatures within it.<\/p>\n
That extends to creatures both living and long dead, including the moa and one of its major predators the terrifying giant Haast\u2019s Eagle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having extensively researched and written an award-winning\u00a0book on the extinct moa (Dinornis), entitled Moa: The Life and Death of New Zealand\u2019s Legendary Bird (2021), Mr Berentson\u2019s interest expanded to include the Haast\u2019s Eagle (Hieraaetus moorei).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a talk for a Birds NZ meeting this week, \u00a0Mr Berentson\u00a0shared some of that knowledge, along with highlighting the latest research into the powerful apex predator.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch shows that, while the Haast\u2019s Eagle was endemic through the South Island, it was few in numbers \u2014\u00a0which is common among apex predators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Haast\u2019s Eagles were a major predator of the moa\u00a0and when the moa became extinct (around 1400-1500), it appeared the giant bird soon followed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are only three whole skeletons of Haast\u2019s Eagles in existence, held in museums\u00a0in New Zealand,\u201d Mr Berentson said.<\/p>\n
The fragmentary remains of only 50 individuals had\u00a0ever been found, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work I did on my moa book has led me to a fascination with the Haast\u2019s Eagle \u2014\u00a0you can\u2019t really tell the story of the moa without them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that the Haast\u2019s Eagle was huge and a very powerful and dangerous predator, which preyed on the moa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey overlapped with humans and there have been stories handed down through M\u0101ori\u00a0oral traditions of tribes having to deal with \u2018flying taniwha\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few individuals may have survived to the 19th\u00a0century, but there is no way to know for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some years ago, Mr Berentson\u00a0was involved in an\u00a0archaeological dig at Wairau Bar near Blenheim \u2014\u00a0site of New Zealand\u2019s oldest M\u0101ori\u00a0settlement \u2014\u00a0Haast\u2019s Eagle bones were found in middens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hand of Quinn Berentson holding a claw of the giant, extinct Haast’s Eagle. Photo: Supplied <\/p>\n
\u201cApart from these few fragments, all we have are the stories handed down by M\u0101ori\u00a0ancestors of the danger of moving through the bush because of these giant birds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, 600 years ago it would have been quite hazardous to walking through the bush in Otago \u2014\u00a0which is quite a thrilling thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, researchers \u2014\u00a0including Canterbury Museum\u2019s\u00a0Dr Paul Scofield \u2014 compared the skull, beak and talons of the Haast\u2019s Eagle held in Canterbury Museum with five living meat-eating birds.<\/p>\n
This showed the world\u2019s largest-known eagle\u00a0gulped down viscera like a vulture and may even have been bald, like an Andean condor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe makes sense, since they will have been sticking their heads inside moa and other prey to eat their guts,\u201d Mr Berentson said.<\/p>\n
This theory is supported by an ancient M\u0101ori rock drawing, thought to depict a Pou\u0101kai or Haast\u2019s Eagle, in South Canterbury.<\/p>\n
Researchers also believe\u00a0Haast\u2019s Eagles were going after moa weighing up to 200kg \u2014\u00a0more than 13 times their own body weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would swoop down and use their enormous talons and beak to deliver a killing blow to their prey, which they could then eat at their leisure,\u201d Mr Berentson said.<\/p>\n
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An artist’s depiction of a giant Haast’s eagle attacking New Zealand moa, by John Megahan. Image: ODT Files <\/p>\n
The Haast\u2019s Eagle were also unique in their rapid evolution into a giant predator in only one or two million years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of unusual biology about them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were truly a magnificent and terrifying predator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Berentson\u2019s talk for Birds NZ this week was one of a monthly series held by the organisation.<\/p>\n
The popular annual Birds NZ spring birdwatching walk at Dunedin Botanic Garden will be held on September 20. <\/p>\n