Largest parrot on Earth: one meter high and 7 kilos in weight

The Kakapo, a native parrot of New Zealand (scientifically known as Strigops habroptilus), holds the title for being the largest parrot in the world today. However, it is on the brink of extinction. This remarkable bird can grow up to 60 centimeters in length and weigh as much as 4 kilos.

Yet, this pales in comparison to a prehistoric parrot that lived 19 million years ago. This ancient bird, which was likely flightless, stood about a meter tall and weighed around 7 kilos. Fossils of this giant parrot were discovered in 2008 near Saint Bathans, in central Otago, New Zealand, an area renowned for its bird fossils from the Miocene period, dating back 5.3 to 23 million years ago.

"However, they did not publish the study containing the results of this unique finding until 2019 in the journal Biology Letters. Trevor Worthy, the research leader from Flinders University, stated: "New Zealand is recognized for its giant birds. Not only did moa rule the skies, but giant geese and adzebills also lived in the forest habitat, and a giant eagle also took flight. Until now, nobody has discovered an extinct giant parrot anywhere."

In honour of its Herculean size and strength, the researchers gave the new bird the scientific name Heracles inexpectatus.

A huge peak

"The parrot had a huge beak that has sparked a debate about what its possible diet could have been. "Heracles, the largest parrot in history, could have used his giant beak to eat more than just conventional parrot foods, perhaps he could even have eaten other parrots," Mike, the author of the study and a professor at the Paleontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Center at the University of New South Wales, told the BBC."

When Heracles was alive, he lived in areas with abundant laurel and palm trees in subtropical forests.

"Undoubtedly, Heracles, along with the parrots and pigeons he lived with, benefited from the rich supply of fruit these habitats provided. However, on the forest floor, Heracles found competition with the adzebills and the precursors of the moa," said Suzanne Hand, the study's author and a professor at the University of New South Wales Sydney.

This species is comparable to the giant pigeon that lives east of Madagascar and was twice the size of the largest previously known parrot, the New Zealand kakapo.

In ancient times, now-extinct giant bird species lived on islands as in the case of the dodo, a giant pigeon found in Fiji, the giant Flores stork, and the giant ducks of Hawaii.

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