Haast's Eagle
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| Haast's Eagle | |
|---|---|
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| Artist's rendition of a Haast's Eagle attacking moa. |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Harpagornis |
| Species: | H. moorei |
| Binomial name | |
| Harpagornis moorei Haast, 1872 |
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The Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) was the largest eagle ever to have lived and is the only eagle in the world ever to have been top predator of its ecosystem. It lived on the South Island of New Zealand.
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.
The arrival of people in New Zealand had unfortunate consequences for the eagle by 1400 AD, most of the forest habitat it used had been cleared by fire, and most of the large flightless birds that it ate had been hunted to extinction.
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