The kakapo of New Zealand, Strigops habroptilus, stands as the world’s largest living parrot and remains perilously endangered. It can reach lengths up to 60 centimeters and a total weight near 4 kilograms. Yet these figures pale beside a remarkable giant from the deep past, a parrot that roamed the Earth 19 million years ago.
This ancient parrot, likely flightless, stood about a meter tall and weighed around 7 kilograms. Fossils uncovered in 2008 near Saint Bathans in central Otago, New Zealand, alongside other Miocene-era remains dating back roughly 19 million years, illuminate a region famous for its fossil record of birds from that era. The Miocene spans roughly 5.3 to 23 million years ago, yielding clues about long-extinct avian giants.
However, the study detailing this unique discovery did not appear in a scientific journal until 2019, in Biology Letters. Trevor Worthy, who led the research from Flinders University, noted that New Zealand has a long history of giant birds. Moas once dominated the skies, while a colossal eagle soared there, and large geese and adzebills shared the forests. Yet, prior to this find, no extinct giant parrot had been identified.
To honor its extraordinary stature, the researchers gave the new species the name Hercules, a nod to its perceived greatness and Herculean strength.
A giant beak, a giant question
The parrot possessed an enormous beak, a feature that sparked lively discussion about its diet. “Hercules, the largest parrot in history, could open its beak as wide as needed and might have eaten far more than typical parrot fare—potentially even other parrots,” said a study contributor who explained the implications. The speaker, affiliated with a center dedicated to paleontology and earth sciences, helped frame the debate about what this creature consumed.
New interpretations of the fossil record suggest that Hercules thrived in subtropical forests where laurel and palm trees were abundant, providing rich fruit resources. Such habitats would have supported a diverse community of birds, including various parrots and pigeons sharing the canopy, while the forest floor hosted competitors like adzebills and ancestral moa relatives.
Suzanne Hand, a study author and professor, emphasized how these forested environments contributed nutritionally to Hercules and the other birds in its ecosystem, highlighting the complex interactions of food, competition, and habitat in Miocene New Zealand.
This giant parrot stands alongside other extinct island birds known from ancient times, such as a giant pigeon found in distant Madagascar, a giant flightless parrot in New Zealand that surpassed the kakapo in size, and other oversized avian species that disappeared as ecosystems shifted.
Extinct giant bird species inhabited isolated islands in antiquity. The record includes a variety of remarkable giants: a pigeon of vast size in Fiji, a colossal stork from Flores, and large ducks once found in Hawaii.
Reference note: Royal Society B publishing findings related to Hercules the giant parrot can be cited in line with the formal study designation and year, ensuring readers have a clear attribution for the scientific discovery described.
The narrative of Hercules underscores the broader story of extraordinary avian life in the Miocene, reminding readers that New Zealand’s biodiversity has long included remarkable species whose legacies endure through fossils and scientific inquiry.