New Zealand was once part of Gondwana, a super-continent that included Antarctica, South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Madagascar - and it wasn't as cold as Antarctica is now. New Zealand began separating from Gondwana about 90 million years ago, and it was completely submerged as it moved away, thus, killing-off all forms of mammal life. When the islands re-surfaced, they were still within the flying range of a few birds, which happily began to call the predator-free environment home.
The land mass remained isolated for some 20 million years, and with no natural predators, the now-native birds that had colonized the islands literally forgot how to fly. After early British settlers arrived, they brought in rabbits for food, and then brought in weasels to control the run-away rabbit population. Well, it was easier for the weasels to feast on the eggs that hapless birds left on the ground than to catch a rabbit, and they quickly devastated the native bird populations. The bird above is called a Tekahu. It's about the size of a basketball, and it's one of only a couple hundred that remain on this Earth.
The smaller bird below is a Kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand. The big monster bird at the bottom is an artist's model of a pre-historic Moa, which laid an egg about the size of a rugby ball. An ancient Maori tribe could eat pretty well on one of these, but I'd hate to run into one unexpectedly. Yikes!
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