Brontornis, the Largest Carnivorous Bird on Earth

Brontornis burmeisteri, the largest carnivorous bird that ever lived on Earth, lived in South America between 23 and 25 million years ago.

It was 3 meters (10 feet) tall and weighed 400 kilograms (880 pounds).

Brontornis had a large, strong beak and huge claws.

According to current scientific knowledge, Brontornis burmeisteri is the third heaviest bird ever to have lived on Earth.

In its own environment and time it was the largest land predator.

A flightless bird, like modern-day emus and ostriches, it could run as fast as a cheetah and shatter bone with its kicks.

This predatory bird fed on ancient relatives of the armadillo, which were as large as small cars.

It probably hid in wait for its prey and then pounced on it after chasing for a short while. This is the common theory because we believe the bird to be too large to chase down prey for any great distance, so it was more like to hide and surprise attack its victims and crush them quickly with its heavy mass and claws then drag the body away to a safe place to eat.