The Stymphalian Birds
One of Hercules’ labors was to kill the Stymphalian Birds — man-eating birds who had the peculiar habit of throwing dung. The Greeks were not the only ones who liked to scare their youngsters with killer bird tales. The Maori tribe of New Zealand told similar legends of the pouakai or hokioi — a giant, black and white bird that swooped down from the sky to pick off small children.
Scientists today know that these Thunderbirds existed. Called Haast’s eagle, the bird stood over six feet tall and had a wingspan of over eight feet. The Haast eagle would sit atop trees and then ambush its prey by swooping down at 60 mph speeds. Then it would disembowel its meal with sharp talons before the poor slob could even worry about dung throwing.
Hercules would never have survived these hell birds. But you can sleep well tonight. The Haast’s eagle went extinct around the 15th century (maybe…)
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