Story: Extinctions

Standing about 80 centimetres tall, the North Island adzebill (Aptornis otidiformis) was a large flightless bird with a down-curved bill. The size of the bill suggests that the bird was a predator, possibly eating large invertebrates, lizards, tuatara and nesting birds.

Fossils have been found at a few sites around the North Island, in open country. The birds are thought to have died out soon after human settlement, probably because they were hunted.

South Island geese

Previous Short Story Next

Southern merganser

---