ETYM Native name.
Extinct flightless bird of New Zealand.
Extinct ostrichlike flightless bird of New Zealand.
Extinct flightless kiwilike bird, order Dinornithoformes, 19 species of which lived in New Zealand. They varied from 0.5 to 3.5 m/2 to 12 ft, with strong limbs, a long neck, and no wings. The last moa was killed in the 1800s.
The Maori used them as food, and with the use of European firearms killed them in excessive numbers.