No bones about it, when it comes to giant birds the moa was up there with the tallest.
Now Northlanders have got the chance to meet a moa up close and personal when a new exhibition of a moa skeleton found in a Whangarei cave opens at Kiwi North.
The almost complete juvenile bush moa skeleton, and the bones of others, were discovered in May by Ian Calder on his 20ha lifestyle block in Abbey Caves Rd near Whareora, and gifted to Kiwi North.
Kiwi North director Stewart Bowden says he's quite relaxed about the unveiling of the exhibition, as the work of carefully identifying, cataloguing and arranging the bones is now done.
"It's been a lot of hard-work over the past six to eight weeks," he said. "The amount we've achieved in that time is amazing."