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Pouākai
The (also spelled ) is a monstrous bird in Māori mythology. Mythologies In some of these legends, the Pouākai kills and eats humans. The myth may refer to the real but now extinct Haast's eagle: the largest known eagle species, which was able to kill an adult moa weighing up to , and which potentially had the capability to kill a small child. History Haast's eagles, which lived only in the east and northwest of New Zealand's South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ..., did not become extinct until around two hundred years after the arrival of Māori people, Māori. Eagles are depicted in early rock-shelter paintings in South Canterbury. Large amounts of the eagle's lowland habitat had been destroyed by burning by AD 1350, and it was driven extinct by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haast's Eagle
Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an Extinction, extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the of Māori mythology.Giant eagle (''Aquila moorei''), Haast's eagle, or Pouakai . Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 October 2010. It is the largest eagle known to have existed, with an estimated weight of , compared to the next-largest and extant harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja''), at up to . Its massive size is explained as an evolutionary response to the size of its prey—the flightless moa—the largest of which could weigh . Haast's eagle became extinct around 1445, following the Māori history#Settlement of New Zealand, arrival of the Māori, who hunted moa to extincti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori Mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in. The Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations memorised from generation to generation. The three forms of expression prominent in Māori and Polynesian oral literature are genealogical recital, poetry, and narrative prose. Experts in these subjects were broadly known as . The rituals, beliefs, and general worldview of Māori society were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators have bird vision, keen eyesight for detecting prey from a distance or during flight, strong feet with sharp talon (anatomy), talons for grasping or killing prey, and powerful, curved beaks for tearing off flesh. Although predatory birds primarily hunt live prey, many species (such as fish eagles, vultures and condors) also scavenge and eat carrion. Although the term "bird of prey" could theoretically be taken to include all birds that actively hunt and eat other animals, ornithologists typically use the narrower definition followed in this page, excluding many piscivorous predators such as storks, Crane (bird), cranes, herons, gulls, skuas, penguins, and kingfishers, as well as many primarily insectivorous bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagles
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila (bird), Aquila''. Most of the 68 species of eagles are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—two in North America, nine in Central and South America, and three in Australia. Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates. Etymology The word "eagle" is borrowed into English from and , both derived ultimately from ("eagle"). It is cognate with terms such as , and . It is broadly synonymous with the less common English term "erne" or "earn", deriving from , from , in which it acts as the usual word for the bird. The Old English term is turn derived from and is cognate with other synonymous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south by the Foveaux Strait and Southern Ocean, and to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the List of islands by area, world's 12th-largest island, constituting 56% of New Zealand's land area. At low altitudes, it has an oceanic climate. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson and Invercargill. Prior to European settlement, Te Waipounamu was sparsely populated by three major iwi – Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, and the historical Waitaha (South Island iwi), Waitaha – with major settlements including in Kaiapoi Pā near modern-day Christchurch. During the Musket Wars expanding iwi colonised Te Tau Ihu Māori, Te Tau Ihu, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pouakai 1000x1000
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Pouakai or Pouākai may refer to: * Pouākai, a monstrous bird in Māori mythology * Haast's Eagle, an extinct bird of New Zealand * Pouākai Range, an eroded, extinct volcano on the northern flank of Mount Taranaki Mount Taranaki (), officially Taranaki Maunga and also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. At , it is the second highest mountain in the North Island, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori People
Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed Māori culture, a distinct culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Early contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Canterbury
South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southern Alps form natural boundaries to the east and west respectively. Though the exact boundaries of the region have never been formalised, the term is used for a variety of government agencies (e.g., the South Canterbury District Health Board) and other entities (such as the South Canterbury provincial rugby team). It is one of four traditional sub-regions of Canterbury, along with Mid Canterbury, North Canterbury, and Christchurch city. Geography South Canterbury's geography covers a wide range of different terrains, from alpine slopes across the glacier carved lakes Tekapo and Pukaki and high country basin of the Mackenzie Country to undulating lowland hills and the Canterbury Plains. Sheep farming is an important industry in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adzebill
The adzebills, genus ''Aptornis'', were two closely related bird species, the North Island adzebill (''Aptornis otidiformis''), and the South Island adzebill (''Aptornis defossor''), of the extinct family Aptornithidae. The family was endemic to New Zealand. A tentative fossil species (''Aptornis proasciarostratus'') is known from the Miocene Saint Bathans fauna. Taxonomy Adzebills were first scientifically described in 1844 by biologist Richard Owen, who mistook them for a small species of moa. The first species named was '' Dinornis otidiformis'' (later ''Aptornis''), with the specific epithet referring to its similarity in size to the great bustard (''Otis tarda''). They have been placed in the Gruiformes but this is not entirely certain. It was also proposed to ally them with the Galloanserae. Studies of morphology and DNA sequences place them variously close to and far off from the kagu of New Caledonia, as well as the trumpeters. However, on first discovery of fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finsch's Duck
Finsch's duck (''Chenonetta finschi'') () is an extinct species of large terrestrial duck that was endemic to New Zealand. The species was possibly once the most common duck in New Zealand, a supposition based on the frequency of its fossils in bone deposits. Taxonomy Finsch's duck was scientifically described as ''Anas finschi'' in 1876 by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden. The specific epithet ''finschi'' and the common name honours ornithologist Otto Finsch, who first recognised it as a distinct species. The species was originally considered to be in its own genus, ''Euryanas'', but is now known to be closely related to the maned duck and recently derived from that species. Description The Finsch's duck was much larger than the maned duck, probably weighing twice as much (around ) and having larger legs. The wings were much reduced however, and it seems that flight was lost relatively quickly after the species arrived in New Zealand. Behaviour and ecology Little is known abou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Goose
The New Zealand goose is a bird of the extinct genus ''Cnemiornis'' of the family Anatidae, subfamily Anserinae. The genus, endemic to New Zealand, consisted of two species: the North Island goose, ''C. gracilis'' and the South Island goose ''C. calcitrans''. Description This goose was as large as some small moa. The North Island species had in body mass while the South Island species reached , far surpassing Canada and Cape barren geese. They were flightless, with much-reduced webbing on the feet, an adaptation for terrestrial dwelling similar to that of the nene of Hawaii. They are usually considered most closely related to the Cape Barren goose of Australia. Extinction They were never particularly common, and like many other large New Zealand endemic species they were subject to hunting pressures from the settling Polynesians, as well as predation upon their eggs and hatchlings by kiore, or the Polynesian rat (which accompanied the settlers) and the settlers' dogs, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hakawai (mythology)
Hakawai, also Hōkioi in the North Island, was to the New Zealand Māori people, a mythology, mythological bird that was sometimes heard but not usually seen. It is now associated with the nocturnal aerial displays made by ''Coenocorypha'' snipe. Mythology In Māori mythology the Hakawai was one of eleven Tapu (Polynesian culture), tapu (sacred) birds of Raka-maomao, a god of wind. The Hakawai lived in the heavens and only descended to the earth at night. It was considered to be a gigantic bird of prey and was described (as the Hōkioi) by a Ngāti Apa chief, to the Governor of New Zealand Sir George Grey, as: Hearing the Hakawai was considered to be a bad omen, traditionally presaging war. Ornithology, Ornithologists in New Zealand have wondered whether the myth related to a real bird, whether extinct or still living, with some claiming that the myth was inspired by the now extinct Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei''). Although mention of the Hakawai occurred in Māori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
