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The (also spelled ) is a monstrous bird in
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 ...
.


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 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.
: the largest known eagle species, which was able to kill an adult
moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. Moa or MOA may also refer to: Arts and media * Metal Open Air, a Brazilian heavy metal festival * MOA Museum of Art in Japan * The Moas, New Zealand film awards People * 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 Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
. Eagles are depicted in early rock-shelter paintings in
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 S ...
. Large amounts of the eagle's lowland habitat had been destroyed by burning by AD 1350, and it was driven extinct by overhunting, both directly (Haast's eagle bones have been found in Māori archaeological sites) and indirectly: its main prey species, nine species of moa and other large birds such as
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 ...
s, flightless ducks, and flightless geese, were hunted to extinction at the same time.


See also

* Hakawai * Folk memory


References

{{Authority control Mythological birds of prey Māori legendary creatures