A mammoth eagle called the Haast is the stuff of myth and legend in New Zealand. Native Maori developed a myth around the bird that was said to be so large it could, and did, carry off small children. New research reveals that myth is no myth. The Haast eagle existed and could weigh up to 40 lbs.  But was it a predator swooping away with screaming children?

From Daily Mail UK:

But a new study has revealed the eagle as a fearsome predator that probably swooped on flightless birds and even children from a high mountain perch.

Researchers Paul Scofield of the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand and Ken Ashwell of the University of New South Wales used computerised CT and CAT scans to reconstruct the size of the brain, eyes, ears and spinal cord of this ancient eagle.

This data was compared to values from modern predatory and scavenging birds to determine the habits of the extinct eagle.

Professor Scofield said the findings are similar to what he found in Maori folk tales.

‘The science supports Maori mythology of the legendary pouakai or hokioi, a huge bird that could swoop down on people in the mountains and was capable of killing a small child,’ he said.