Argentavis magnificens: The heaviest flying bird ever discovered 

There are nearly 10,000 different species of birds in the animal kingdom. They vary in size and shape from the small bee hummingbird to the enormous ostrich to the extinct dodo. Some of the largest birds on earth can stretch their wings wider than a king-size bed and stand taller than any NBA player. Although an ostrich may seem intimidating when it is looking down at you from 8 feet in the air, it is nothing in contrast to the massive birds that once roamed around this earth thousands of years ago. Don’t believe us? If you dig deep into the ancient times, you will see that only a few huge bird species survive today. The record for the largest bird that ever existed has long been held by some species that lived between 10,000 and 1,000 years ago. These species include the elephant bird (Vorombe titan; 9.8 ft. tall and weighing over 500 kg), the carnivorous bird (Brontornis; 9.2 ft. tall and weighing around 400 kg), and the heaviest bird ever capable of flight (Argentavis magnificens; 6.6 ft. tall and weighing at least 71 kg). Surprised, are you? So are we! How can such a supremely heavy bird take to the air? Let’s find out more about this heavy bird, Argentavis magnificens, which belongs to the largest extinct family, ‘Teratornithidae’. 

Argentavis magnificens: A bird’s eye view 
Argentavis magnificens, roamed the skies over Argentina six million years ago. It was a terrifying predator also known as the ‘Giant Teratorn’. Can you believe that it was the size of a small aircraft! Argentavis had a length of about 12 feet, a wingspan of about 23 feet, and its wings covered an area of around 75 square feet. It weighed around 71 kg, which is an average weight for a human. It was so huge with an eagle-like beak that it could easily eat animals the size of a rabbit.  

It is not easy for a bird of such a huge size to fly. So, scientists weren’t sure for long about whether or not it could really take to the air. However, they considered the anatomical evidences: Wing bones of Argentavis were long, powerful, and filled with air, which made them hollow. This is why this species was very much able to fly, suggest experts. According to some studies, this species laid 1-2 eggs every 2 years and the death rate was so low that the typical life span was extraordinarily long, ranging between 50 and 100 years! Now that’s really long for a bird!  

Argentavis: Bird or dinosaur? 
Argentavis might be called the largest bird to ever take to the air, but according to palaeontologists, all the birds have descended from a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called Theropods. The oldest bird fossils confirm that ancient birds had many similarities to small, feathered dinosaurs. Sharp teeth were still present in their mouths. However, birds lost their teeth over time and developed beaks. Dinosaurs are generally divided into two groups - Saurischia and Ornithischia. The Saurischia are formed of all the theropods, or carnivorous dinosaurs, as well as the enormous herbivorous dinosaurs (sauropods). Ornithischia belongs to the category of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. Modern palaeontology believes that Saurischian dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds. 

How did it become extinct? 
It is not entirely clear how these species went extinct, but it is assumed that they did so around 10,000 years ago. This is the time when the majority of North America's mammals went extinct.