What is a hokioi?
Hakawai, also Hokioi in the North Island, was to the New Zealand Māori people, a mythological bird that was sometimes heard but not usually seen. It is now associated with the nocturnal aerial displays made by Coenocorypha snipe.
What is the meaning of Pouakai?
In Māori mythology, the pouakai or poukai is a monstrous bird. In some of these legends, pouakai kill and eat humans.
How did the Haast eagle get its name?
Haast named the eagle Harpagornis moorei after George Henry Moore, the owner of the Glenmark Estate, where the bones of the bird had been found. The genus name was from the Greek harpax, meaning “grappling hook”, and ornis, meaning “bird”.
How big was the Haast eagle?
between two and three metres
With a wingspan of between two and three metres, and weighing up to 13 kilograms, the Haast’s eagle is the largest eagle ever to have existed in the world. It is thought to have been heavier in relation to wing size than any of the eagles alive today.
What killed the Haast eagle?
Overhunting of its moa prey by humans was probably the main cause of its extinction. Loss of habitat due to the burning of South Island dry mosaic forests and shrublands by humans may also have caused declines in its prey species.
What was the Haast Eagles habitat?
It lived on the South Island of New Zealand, where there were no other large predators. Fossil evidence shows that the areas where the Haast’s eagle lived were covered in forest and shrublands, as well as in the grasslands on river floodplains.
How fast is the Haast eagle?
H. moorei was powerful enough to attack and prey on giant flightless birds, the moa, weighing 10 to 15 times their own body weight. Comparatively to its body size, the Haast’s Eagle’s wingspan was short, at about 9 feet. It’s believed that the raptor would swoop down at speeds of nearly 50 mph to attack the moa.
What did the moa eat?
Large amounts of moa remains have been found on the East Coast of the South Island, but moa would have lived when these areas were still covered with forest. Preserved stomach contents have shown that the moa ate a diet of twigs, seeds, fruit and leaves, and browsed on shrubs, rather than grazed on grass.
What kind of animal is Marahute?
Marahute is portrayed as a very kind and gentle giant lady eagle, though her massive girth can cause problems (at one point, one of her wings accidentally knocks Cody off the tall cliff they’re on, though she quickly saves him).
What kind of lizard is Joanna?
Argus monitor lizard
Joanna is likely either a perentie or an Argus monitor lizard (both of which are called goannas in Australia). Both are exceedingly large, powerful, fast and intelligent monitors from Australia.