Planet Rugby Forum

But I don’t think anyone’s going to take this one away from you anytime soon:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49262365

Big enough to feed the whole family at Christmas.

Moa, Haast Eagle and this.

If there's one thing NZ does well it's massive f*cking birds.









leaves obvious setup line there....

They're a good size alright, Kea's can be a pain in the ass at less than half the size, imagine one of those things ripping into the grill or window rubbers on your new Audi.
The Haast Eagle though, that's the grandaddy. If they can dig up something that dwarfs that it'd be about one of the most frightening animals in past history, or well up there.

The panorama of a Haast’s Eagle taking a Moa was my favourite part of a visit to Canterbury Museum as a kid.

Jay Cee Gee wrote:If there's one thing NZ does well it's massive f*cking birds.

I won't lie, this isn't the first thread I've clicked on about fat kiwi burds [/yeeb]

Haast eagle? Meeh, just a bit bigger version of a regular eagle.

A fuckoff great big carnivorous parrot though - that’s great wtf value.

Sinkers wrote:Haast eagle? Meeh, just a bit bigger version of a regular eagle.

A fuckoff great big carnivorous parrot though - that’s great wtf value.

Just a bit bigger version of a kea tbf.

On a semi-related note - this year saw a major Rimu mast (only the second time in about 40 years on one of the key islands), which meant the kakapo breeding season was a bit special. Over 70 chicks hatched, which considering they are a slow breeding species and the total population was only 140 at the start of the season, is pretty impressive. They also managed to artificially inseminate some of the females with semen from the rarer "Fiordland" blood-lines (it can take a long time to track down birds on the rugged islands, which isn't particularly good if you're carrying around the male seed all day, trying to track down the recipient - this year they have been going out and catching the females, then having the semen delivered by drones).

Unfortunately, a lot of birds (including adults) then got a respiratory disease, and they lost a few, but over-all it looks like it will still be a big population boost (possibly to over the 200 mark).

The kakapo recovery programme is awesome and I hope this respiratory virus is just a one off thing.

I can remember attending an evening about them about 25 years ago (maybe more) and I think the population was then about 26. Gee it's a slow process but hopefully, they are getting there

NZ do great native animal rescues.

The story of the Black Robin species being saved is a proper rollercoaster story.

The Kakapo and Kiwi breeding programs are equally special.

Will look up the black robin story, was the Haast eagle the one killed off by earlier climate change?Ok mankind did for the Haast.

lorcanoworms wrote:Will look up the black robin story, was the Haast eagle the one killed off by earlier climate change?

It was the arrival of humans - competition for common prey.

Enzedder wrote:The kakapo recovery programme is awesome and I hope this respiratory virus is just a one off thing.

I can remember attending an evening about them about 25 years ago (maybe more) and I think the population was then about 26. Gee it's a slow process but hopefully, they are getting there

Your dedication to bring this bird back from the brink of extinction is awesome! Well done NZ.

lorcanoworms wrote:Will look up the black robin story, was the Haast eagle the one killed off by earlier climate change?Ok mankind did for the Haast.

They're a great storey of dedications, particularly that of one man.

Also, my little sister worked with the robins for a time.

Gazzamonster wrote:NZ do great native animal rescues.

The story of the Black Robin species being saved is a proper rollercoaster story.

The Kakapo and Kiwi breeding programs are equally special.

We do alright with some. Still far too many neglected species and too many anti-1080 cunt-stain whack-jobs that negatively affect the good work required. When I'm in NZ I help out with a bit of trapping and poisoning (and weed/invasive tree control, which is also fairly important) on Whangarei Heads. The population of Kiwi there has increased from around 80 in 2001, up to an estimate of almost 1000 last year (based on monitoring of distinct kiwi calls - they actually think it is probably fairly conservative and the true population may be 1500+). Can hear kiwi pretty much every night from my parent's back yard.

The old man also recently helped catch and transfer a bunch of robin (North Island robins, not black robins) from down King Country way on the heads, and they seem to be establishing quite well too.

lorcanoworms wrote:Will look up the black robin story, was the Haast eagle the one killed off by earlier climate change?Ok mankind did for the Haast.

This book is worth a read:

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Robin-Savi ... 0195582608

Don Merton is the main bloke credited with saving them. Believe there were 5 left, only one of which was a fertile female. Now up to 250 odd, all of which are directly descended from that one female "Old Blue".

Thanks lads, very nice story and great effort.

Black robins and kakapos (kakapi?) are all well and good. But can we get back to the fact that you used to have a one meter tall, flesh eating attack parrot?

Demilich wrote:

Gazzamonster wrote:NZ do great native animal rescues.

The story of the Black Robin species being saved is a proper rollercoaster story.

The Kakapo and Kiwi breeding programs are equally special.

We do alright with some. Still far too many neglected species and too many anti-1080 cunt-stain whack-jobs that negatively affect the good work required. When I'm in NZ I help out with a bit of trapping and poisoning (and weed/invasive tree control, which is also fairly important) on Whangarei Heads. The population of Kiwi there has increased from around 80 in 2001, up to an estimate of almost 1000 last year (based on monitoring of distinct kiwi calls - they actually think it is probably fairly conservative and the true population may be 1500+). Can hear kiwi pretty much every night from my parent's back yard.

The old man also recently helped catch and transfer a bunch of robin (North Island robins, not black robins) from down King Country way on the heads, and they seem to be establishing quite well too.

lorcanoworms wrote:Will look up the black robin story, was the Haast eagle the one killed off by earlier climate change?Ok mankind did for the Haast.

This book is worth a read:

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Robin-Savi ... 0195582608

Don Merton is the main bloke credited with saving them. Believe there were 5 left, only one of which was a fertile female. Now up to 250 odd, all of which are directly descended from that one female "Old Blue".

My folks were quite active in the Cape Kidnappers sanctuary Kiwi program. When I went back to New Zealand for a visit I spent a couple of days driving up to a Rotorua breeding sanctuary and transporting birds to CK.

Holding a Kiwi is still a really special thing for me. And to my families honour we had a Kiwi named after my Father as a thank you for the volunteering. It is a very cool project.

Sinkers wrote:Black robins and kakapos (kakapi?) are all well and good. But can we get back to the fact that you used to have a one meter tall, flesh eating attack parrot?

Our apologies if we're a bit blasé about it, but we do still have flesh eating attack parrots - sure, they're a bit smaller, but they'll still bring down a sheep (eventually):



They also drag sea-bird chicks out of their nests and eat them as well.

As if giant flesh eating parrots wasn’t enough, now this, monster penguins!!!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49340715

Sinkers wrote:As if giant flesh eating parrots wasn’t enough, now this, monster penguins!!!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49340715

Scientists are apparently struggling to pick it up

Sinkers wrote:Black robins and kakapos (kakapi?) are all well and good. But can we get back to the fact that you used to have a one meter tall, flesh eating attack parrot?

Just Kakapo will do mate