Longest eagle beak

The longest beak of any eagle was that of Haast's eagle Harpagornis moorei, formerly native to New Zealand's South Island but becoming extinct in c.1400 AD owing to habitat destruction and competition in moa hunting by Maori settlers. One lower mandible on record measured 11.4 cm, whereas the longest beaks on record from any still-living species, namely the Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi and Steller's sea eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus, measure little more than 7 cm.

Haast's eagle was truly enormous, exceeding not only all other eagle species but also even the two modern-day species of condor. Yet DNA analysis has revealed that it descended and diverged from very modest-sized species, diverging as recently as 1.8 million to 700,000 years ago. This means that its weight increased by 10 to 15 times during that short time, which is an exceptionally rapid surge.