EXPLORING NATURE: LARGE BIRDS

Some birds are big.

I recall ostriches in Africa that were up to nine feet tall, easily the biggest bird in the world. I did not see them run around, but was told they could hit speeds up to 40 miles an hour. I also saw rheas in South America, and emus in Australia – both are big birds.

By way of comparison, I saw the smallest bird in the world on a trip to Cuba; it was the bee hummingbird and, sure enough, it was about the size of a large bee.

But when it comes to big, the ostrich is the world champ, weighing in at some 320 pounds. That’s a lot of bird.

While ostriches are big, they don’t come close to the size of one bird in ancient history. The absolute biggest bird of all time was probably a South American species known as Argentavis magnificens. It lived some six million years ago and had a wingspan of some 22 feet. It weighed in at 175 pounds. Wow.

It is theorized this bird was at the upper end in size for a flying bird. It probably needed dependably stiff winds to get and remain airborne.

This ancient species also required molting, like all birds, to replace its feathers on a regular basis. On such a large bird, feathers would grow at less than a half inch per day, so it would have been rendered grounded for long periods while replacing its flight feathers.

Long flightless periods combined with a very slow reproductive rate of about one new chick every two or three years, helped determine that the Argentaavis magnificens is no longer around.

Still, weighing 175 pounds and with that huge wingspan, it must have been quite a sight.