Talk:Dromornis

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Is it possible that Dromornis feed almost exclusively on the nestlings of colony nesting birds, for example pelicans during some periods of the year and on ratites like the emu during dry seasons? Their hoof like feet would come in to good use only in hot sand and coarse grass/brush but would limit their locomotion in muddy marshes but not seasonally flooded grasslands. The massive bill and head structures may also have had a function in the dispatching of monitor lizards and snakes. The shield like bills of the gallinules and hornbills come to mind. Gallinules forage on animals as do hornbills. Ground Hornbills may be similar in some ecological aspects with Dromornis. But the size of the body suggests to me that during the wet seasons the species lived as a semi aquatic species. Perhaps its chicks were reared in flooded grasslands much in the same manner as Rheas.

Question: Is it certain the Dromornis was the largest? The largest variety of Moa was up to 3m, so maybe some sort of comparison would be good? JD