Largest Birds in History
Just what was the largest bird that ever lived? How about the largest bird that is alive now? Which bird has the largest wingspan, or the largest eggs? Learn the size isssues here!
Largest Bird Ever
The largest bird ever to have lived is the Aepyornis maximus or Elephant Bird, that lived in Madagascar up until around the year 600. They were similar to ostriches and could weigh up to 1,000 pounds! The arrival of humans caused their destruction. If you want something larger than the Elephant Bird, you have to start looking back to the age of dinosaurs.
Largest Living Bird
The largest bird that is alive in modern day times is the Ostrich. An Ostrich can be up to 9' tall and weigh 350 pounds. Note that the Ostrich is also the fastest running bird! They can run to speeds of over 40 miles per hour - far faster than a human can run!
Largest Wingspan on a Bird
The bird with the largest wingspan, tip to tip, is the Wandering Albatross. These seabirds can have wings up to almost 12 feet in length. This bird is an expert glider and can glide for hours at a time without flapping its wings.
Largest Eggs of a Bird
The Elephant Bird, extinct, would create eggs that could hold 2 1/4 gallons of water in them - that's 7 times as large as an ostrich egg. These eggs were often brought back as souveniers by travellers. They were larger than most dinosaur eggs.
The largest current bird egg is the Ostrich egg, which is around 8" long and can weigh up to 5 pounds. One ostrich egg is about the same volume as 24 chicken eggs.
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