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New Zealand’s mighty moa renders itself majestic on this 1oz silver proof coin.
When Europeans first discovered moa bones in the 1830s, there was quite an uproar in the scientific community. Quickly attracting international interest, the moa became a wonder of the natural history world. But soon the kiwi, the moa’s still-living relative, replaced the moa as the iconic symbol of New Zealand.
Although moa were once the largest birds to have lived, reaching up to two metres tall, there were in fact nine species of this ratite bird. They ranged in size and adapted to their particular habitats.
The majestic and mighty moa was able to lay claim to being one of the largest known birds, a title it shared with the largest forms of Madagascar’s elephant bird and Australia’s giant mihirung birds. All were around the same height, but these other extinct behemoth birds were thought to have been heavier and bulkier than the moa. Other moa species such as the upland moa and the little bush moa were considerably smaller, around the same size as a turkey.