What bird was Maui (aka Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson!!) in Moana?

Combining my love for The Rock, Moana and birds in today’s article!

Have you watched Moana?

If you haven’t, I’ll just include a short summary of the movie. (No spoilers!)

It’s a Disney Princess movie, but it doesn’t follow the typical storyline we’ve come to know - there’s no prince, no poison, no evil stepmother or anything like that. The titular character Moana is courageous and plucky, and she sails across the sea (with no prior knowledge on sailing!!) in order to save her people.

During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson!), who guides and accompanies her in her journey.

In the movie, Maui is able to transform into several different animals, but his favourite seems to be a huge, charismatic eagle.

Image credit: DailyMotion

So what eagle was he?

His eagle seems to most closely resemble the now-extinct Haast’s Eagle

The now-extinct Haast's Eagle were giant eagles that lived in New Zealand.

There are still stories about this animal from the native Māori - the indigenous people of New Zealand - which give us (and the artists of Moana!) an idea about the size and shape of the bird, as well as the colors of its feathers!

Image credit: NZ Herald. The Haast’s eagle (Hieraaetus moorei) weighed up to 15 kilograms, about a third heavier than the largest living eagle, the harpy eagle. Scientists have long suspected that the bird’s preferred prey was another bird, the land-roaming and now extinct moa, which could weigh up to 200 kilograms.

In Māori legend, these birds are called ‘pouakai’, and were a type of monstrous bird in mythology that were said to be able to kill and eat humans. While that may be a tall tale, it seems that the Haast’s Eagle was definitely able to kill and eat adult Moa birds - an extinct group of flightless birds formerly endemic to New Zealand - that weighted up to 230kg.

Moa birds sort of resemble ostriches and emus, but are just much, much bigger.

Image credit: NZ Herald. An artist’s impression of the now-extinct Haast’s Eagle. This extinct New Zealand bird is believed to have hunted like an eagle and ate like a vulture - while the Haast’s eagle had a beak and talons suited for capturing live prey, its skull is also well-adapted for ripping out organs.

Unfortunately, the Haast’s Eagle became extinct around 200 years after the arrival of the Māori people.

First, large amounts of the eagle's habitat had been destroyed by burning by the year 1350.

Secondary, the Haast’s Eagle was probably also eventually driven to extinct by overhunting, both directly and indirectly - Haast's Eagle bones have been found in Māori archaeological sites, which indicate that the people must have hunted them for their consumption.

Plus, the Haast’s Eagle’s main prey species were also ALL hunted to extinction at the same time, which meant that any surviving birds probably found it too difficult to find food.

All that meant that by around the year 1400, these giant birds were extinct.

However, images of these eagles are depicted in early rock-shelter paintings in South Canterbury, a region on New Zealand’s South Island.

Image credit: Bradshaw Foundation. This is the Cave of the Eagle at Craigmore Station, inland Timaru. Thec cave takes its name from a painting of the now extinct Haast Eagle (harpagornis moorei) which decorates the overhang's ceiling.

Back to Moana of Motunui!

In the movie, Moana is from the fictional island Motunui. It seems that the movie was set some 3,000 years ago - the same time the Haast’s Eagle was still very much alive!

But it’s quite odd and interesting that the story and culture of Moana is based on the heritage and history of Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti, when Maui’s eagle came from the legends of New Zealand.

New Zealand is actually located over 3270km away from Samoa - as estimated 3.5 hour airplane flight. They didn’t have airplanes back then, though, so how did the legends of Maui’s eagle, from New Zealand, make it all the way to Hawaii or Samoa?

It’s because the way-finders back then simply excelled at navigating the ocean!

Let’s learn about the people of these islands!

The island of Motunui may be fictional, but as mentioned earlier, it is based on real islands.

And even the islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand are so far away from each other, the indigenous people of these islands all share the same ancestry.

They come from a group of people called Polynesians, who are native to the Polynesian Triangle of the Oceania region.

Most of us aren’t geographers, so we may not know where or what that is. But it’s basically the region around Australia and New Zealand, as well as some of the islands near Southeast Asia, and even Taiwan!

Plus, did you know? Although Taiwan is now mostly populated by ethnic Han Chinese people and is seen as a (disputed) Chinese territory, the indigenous people of Taiwan are actually related to Polynesians!

Taiwanese indigenous people - also known as Formosan people - are the indigenous and original people of Taiwan. It’s just like how the Aboriginal people are the original custodians of Australia!

In Taiwan, the Formosan people currently make up just below 2% of the island's population.

Taiwan’s Indigenous people are called the Formosan People.

The ancient Polynesian people have acquired a well-deserved reputation as great navigators. Historical records have shown that their canoes reached the most remote corners of the Pacific, allowing the settlement of islands as far apart as Hawaii, Rapanui (Easter Island) and New Zealand.

The people of Polynesia accomplished this voyaging using ancient navigation skills of reading stars, currents, clouds and bird movements.

Overall, the stories of Haast’s Eagle and the Polynesian people are truly fit for a Disney movie!