The giant Moa (Dinornis) is an extinct genus of ratite birds belonging to the moa family. It was endemic to New Zealand. Dinornis may have been the tallest bird that ever lived, with the females of the largest species standing 3.6 m (12 ft) [citation needed] tall, and one of the most massive, weighing 230240 kilograms (510530 lb) or 278 kilograms (610 lb) in various estimates. Feather remains are reddish brown and hair-like, and apparently covered most of the body except the lower legs and most of the head (plus a small portion of the neck below the head). The feet were large and powerful, and the birds had a long neck that allowed them to reach tall vegetation. In relation to its body, the head was small, with a pointed, short, flat and somewhat curved beak. Overall, the giant moa probably resembled a heavy ostrich. They filled the same ecological niche as grazing mammals on the continents. The giant moa, along with other moa genera, were wiped out by human colonists who hunted it for food. All taxa in this genus were extinct by 1500 in New Zealand. It is reliably known that the Maoris still hunted them at the beginning of the fifteenth century, driving them into pits and robbing their nests. The most important factor [citation needed] was farming, however, for which the forests were cut and burnt down and the ground was turned into arable land. The moa seems to have died out at the end of the fifteenth century.
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