An extinct flightless bird which reached about 3.6 m (12 ft) in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kg (510 lb). Estimates of the moa population when Polynesians settled New Zealand circa 1300 vary between 58,000 and approximately 2.5 million.

They were the largest terrestrial animals and dominant herbivores in the forests, shrublands, and subalpine ecosystems of aotearoa until the arrival of the maori, and were hunted only by the haast eagle. Moa extinction occurred within 100 years of human settlement.