Sculpture
South Island adzebill
Ngutu hahau, the world’s largest rail.
Proposed
Where we are now
A drawing and a spot: a pair, 1 m by 1 m.
Why it is in the plan
A predator rather than a grazer, among five moa.
The plant in the drawing is a real plant
The note on the drawing says the toetoe around this bird “would be real and not part of the sculpture”. The sculpture is drawn with the planting already grown up around it, which is how the two halves of this project are meant to fit.
In deep time
Aptornis defossor, ngutu hahau. An 80 cm, 18 kg predator with a razor-sharp beak and tiny, functionless wings — the world’s largest rail.