Skeletal remains show that this relative of the vulture had a wingspan of more than 20 feet and weighed over 120 pounds - large enough to snatch a small child. It was about one third larger than today's living condors. In the comments, hundreds gave their accounts of what they witnessed and uploaded clips captured from their dash cams and home security cameras, including Herzog who shared a video his brother and sister-in-law filmed in San Antonio. The eyewitness was traveling from Texas to Vermont. July 31, 2007 in Featured News, Videos and Articles. I happen to be a bit of a Mothman enthusiast after I saw the film The Mothman Prophecies and the Mothman is often seen to be a banshee type figure, i.e appears in an area before a major disaster. Sometimes there seems to be so much talk, that at least. From: CRSTLPNTRA@aol.comTo: obiwan@ghosts.orgSubject: big birdsDate: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 5:15 PM. 1967 or 1968. The next day, their fathers saw three-toed tracks, pressed about an inch into the ground. Argentavis may have used mountain slopes and headwinds to take off, and probably could manage to do so from even gently sloping terrain with little effort. Beauty Of Birds strives to maintain accurate and up-to-date information; however, mistakes do happen. ", "Glossary. With lots of local lore come lots of potential cryptid sightings, and honestly, were here for it. I have to wonder how often this goes on without anyone noticing them because of the extreme altitude of the meeting. Related to New World vultures like our own black and turkey. Its believed they became extinct sixty-five million years ago. I could tell it was black and it had white tips on the wings. wrote Sarah Jane Zamora-Rivera from Gonzales, Texas. It has been estimated that the minimal velocity for the wing of A. magnificens is about 11 metres per second (36ft/s) or 40 kilometres per hour (25mph). Climate considerations make it likely that the birds incubated over the winter, mates exchanging duties of incubating and procuring food every few days, and that the young were independent after some 16 months, but not fully mature until aged about a dozen years. SEE ALSO: Impressively-sized gator spotted in Missouri City by man attempting to install windows. Thank you! I was like in 8th grade and me and my friend were at the park. Published May 30, 2009. Another example might be the Spotted Owl. Of course, Argentavis suffered hardly any predation, and mortality was mainly from old age, accidents and disease. First, the basics: the largest known living flying bird (as opposed to flightless ones like ostriches), the wandering albatross, has a wingspan from 8 to 11.5 feet. Additionally, it might have been the color of ashes. That's how Superman started" It's not clear whether the raresighting is connected to the Quadrantidmeteor shower, which peaked on Jan. 3 and 4 but is still active until Jan. 16. Image credit: Universidad Maimonides. Giant birds called teratorns (or wonder birds) once flew over New Mexico. Reports range from solitary birds sitting in trees to entire flocks of eight or more birds. It was somewhat larger than the extant Andean condor, and by calculating the area of the organism's sternum and synsacrum, Teratornis was estimated to weigh about 22.5kg (50lb), which was nearly double the weight of an average Californian condor. Unexplained-Mysteries.com The majority of reported sightings came from the Central Texas area. A good example might be the Spix Macaw. About this time, several school teachers witnessed the strange bird, with a wingspan of at least 12 feet across. Of course, nobody believed me when I got home, but I know what I saw. So, what about, With lots of local lore come lots of potential cryptid sightings, and honestly, were here for it. Physical characteristics Currently accepted estimates: Wingspan: 5.8-8 m (19 - 26 ft) Wing area: nearly 7 m (75 square ft) Wing loading: c. 11.5 kg/m Length: 3.5 m (11.5 ft) Height: 1.7-2 m (5.6-6.5 ft) Weight: 60-80 kg (140-180 lb) For comparison, the living bird with the largest wingspan is the Wandering Albatross (3.63 m). Have you heard of any of the cattle and goat ranchers losing any calfs or kids? Not all scientists are convinced that all species of pterosaurs must have become extinct long ago. In an update posted to Twitter, Norvell said the gator had been safely caught and relocated to Gator Country near Beaumont. boy was he relieved. Well, I was sitting in the deer blind for about an hour, and had yet to see anything. [9] Thus, Teratornis may have primarily inhabited cliff terrain, where it could take off and soar through the air easily. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Teratorn. From the size and structure of its wings it is inferred that A. magnificens flew mainly by soaring, using flapping flight only during short periods. It's possible that this fireball was connected to The Quadrantids meteor shower that is said to be active until Jan. 16., but that connection is not clear yet. she didnt say anything until later that evening at v.f.w. Whatever the case, this mystery continues to fascinate me due to its earthly nature, and I would love to hear more experiences from readers. Are there any mythical creatures in New Mexico? A large number of fossil and subfossil bones, representing more than 100 individuals, have been found in locations in California, Oregon, southern Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, though most are from the Californian La Brea Tar Pits. In 2008, two men, Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton, claimed to possess a frozen body of a Bigfoot specimen. Anyway, we saw it several times. Minutes later, fellow officer, Homer Galvan, sighted a large black silhouette gliding through the air. January 1: Tracey Lawson and Cousin Jackie Davies were playing outside when they saw the creature. I was afraid it would eat me. Both the Spotted Owl and Spix's macaw are nearly extinct because of rapid deforrestation and in the case of hte spotted owl, because there isn't expansive territory to sustain thier numbers. Analysis of the skull and bill shapes suggests that fish may have constituted a major part of its diet. Teratorns are members of Teratornithidae, a highly diversified guild of large carnivorous flying birds that lived between 25 million and 12,000 years ago. Other than the above-mentioned, This Tiny Restaurant In New Mexico Always Has A Line Out The Door, And Theres A Reason Why, Get Away From It All Each Month Of The Year With These 12 Magnificent Escapes In New Mexico, The Most Epic Indoor Playground In New Mexico Will Bring Out The Kid In Everyone, The Best Burgers In New Mexico Are Served At This Iconic Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurant, The Creepy Small Town In New Mexico With Insane Paranormal Activity, 10 Urban Legends In New Mexico To Keep You Awake At Night, 9 Spine-Tingling Hauntings Said To Be True In New Mexico, Heres What Life In New Mexico Looked Like In 1935. Theories range from relict animals (species believed to be extinct but perhaps still living) to simple optical illusion, causing large birds to look even larger in the eye of the beholder due to lack of perspective or landmarks against which to compare. Might scientists find previously unknown species of birds? So they got some chairs and were sitting on the porch when the thing flew by again! He says he's seen what most have not an unidentified flying object, one that still scares him. The American South West is truly home to the world's largest flighted birds, so it's not surprising to me that folks in San Antonio would be seeing one of their huge feathered friends and mistaking it for something other than what it really is. [7] A 1983 study gives a range of wingspan of 2.9383.379m (9.6411.09ft) and a weight of 13.7kg (30lb). I believe it lived on the lake. Merriam's Teratorn probably played an important role in opening up the body cavities of carcasses for smaller birds like eagles and ravens which are also known to have frequented the locality, as mammalian predators-- being unable to fly-- could hardly reach most carcasses without getting mired in the asphalt themselves. Required fields are marked *. As with all extinct species, not much can be known about the Giant Teratorns behaviour. True or not, Mr. Big did get his own festival and BBQ day in Jemez Springs. By The Giant Teratorn Argentavis magnificens was an absolutely enormous species of flying bird which lived in Argentina during the late Miocene, about six million years ago. The bill was large, rather slender, and had a hooked tip with a wide gape. Look at its probable descendent--the California Condor. Many of the sightings take place in Texas, but these gigantic animals have also been spotted in Australia, Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, and other places. The Cinco Ranch gator isn't alone when it comes to recent sightings. Sign up for a new account in our community. Climate considerations make it likely that the birds incubated over the winter, mates exchanging duties of incubating and procuring food every few days, and that the young were independent after some 16 months, but not fully mature until aged about a dozen years. Okay, so I was looking through the page and I saw a story about someone who saw a really big bird and I remembered about something I saw once. Its believed it got lost during migratory flight. A map from the nonprofit scientific organization shows the bulk of the reports came from Central Texas. Weekly free ghost stories delivered to your inbox. They stayed around for about 45 55 minutes, then just drifted south until we werent able to focus on them any longer. Some thought it may have been a shooting star or even leftover fireworks. In fact, some studies of skull morphology indicated that the T.merriami were incapable of tearing pieces of flesh off of carcasses in the manner of condors. Hundreds reported spotting a giant fireball flying over Texas and Oklahoma Tuesday night, according to the American Meteor Society. Thunderbird: Open to speculation because these birds, most often sighted from Pennsylvania to the northern Midwest, have been said to resemble teratorns and pterodactyls. I dont relish being thought of as a liar or being prone to exaggeration, but it was BIG. This white-clad spirit (formerly a human mother who tragically lost her children) perpetually haunts rivers and streams throughout the Southwest, looking to lure children to their death. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department feared hunters might mistake a protected, large, rare bird, like the whooping crane, for this strange, mysterious bird. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Suddenly, large talons grabbed him and tore his shirt. Mass estimates for these azhdarchids are on the order of 200250kg (440550lb) and their estimated height on the ground was roughly analogous to an elephant or small giraffe.[13]. Fortunately, the web is far bigger today and I have discovered some intriguing information about huge bird sightings. I was only 17 at the time. he came in shook up. The Spix died out in Brazil in about 2000. This Big Bird isnt the adorable one who lives on Sesame Street with his teddy bear Radar, but was named after him in jest. In the third edition of mynonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America,an encounter in theChesapeake area, near the border between Maryland and Virginia, may relate to other sighting reports that I have received from Virginia: I was twenty years old, taking a camping trip with my boss and his friends, and I believe it was near the Maryland-Virginia line in the Chesapeake area. Because of its large size and ability to fly, Argentavis suffered hardly any predation, and mortality was mainly from old age and disease.[14]. The group of stories I received during the year 2006 would seem to bear this out. Beautyofbirds.com is a labor of love. It's the stuff of story but mixed with a bit of fact. Everyone is moving to New Mexico, even Big Foot. My father didnt go that time, because he was sick with the flu. In the mountains near Socorro, New Mexico is a natural warm spring that houses some of the rarest animals in the world. We were tubing [inner-tube] in the river, some time in the morning or early afternoon. It sounded like something flapping. Previously, she was a community news and breaking news reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. Other huge birds include storks, pelicans, the Andean condor, with a wingspan up to 10 feet, and the endangered California condor, which tops out at 9.5 feet across. Not sure about what species it is. Im sure its bones are still somewhere on the lake after all these years, if it died there. Sure, you wont find any unicorns here (bummer), but you will find some other creepy critters that might as well be mythical or ones that are currently mythical but thought to exist anyway by many people and cultures, like Bigfoot or the Chupacabra. It may have flown and lived much like the modern Andean condor, scanning large areas of land from aloft for carrion. More recently, extraordinarily large birds have been sighted in the Dona Ana Mountains. I live in South Texas and I have had the displeasure of seeing these largebirds on two separate occasions. It flew directly over us, about twenty yards above us, and as I turned my inner tube along its path, it perched on a tree about fifty yards past us. Here are some of the original stories I received on this topic: To: obiwan@ghosts.orgSubject: WWW Form SubmissionDate: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 9:16 PMName: Arturo PerezEmail: hedorah_85@yahoo.comLocation: Eagle Pass, Texas. Dash cam footage captured the moment a fireball could be seen flying across the night sky in front of Lake Belton High School. We couldnt see its face, though. "People stopped their cars on the road to get out and watch the sight," Schwab said in a statement to ABC13. It intrigued me enough to go searching for more information. .. It probably doesnt sound too scary, but trust me if you would have seen this thing you wouldve been scared too! Many good samples of its fossils have been found in central and northwestern Argentina. Comparison with extant birds suggests it laid one or two eggs with a mass of somewhat over 1 kg somewhat smaller than an ostrich egg every two years. Guadalupe Cantu III was busy working his newspaper route, but he says the big news of that day 10 years ago flew right over his car. A trapper caught up to him about 60 yards north of Buffalo Bayou, according to Norvell. "I was wondering what that was! it is 33 inches tall with an average 13.5 to 16.5 inch wide flower wing span, in a few individual flowers the . It is said that these great creatures once ruled the skies. View: Full Article | Source: My San Antonio, it might be a thunderbird like said in the story. To Norvell got some chairs and were sitting on the road to get giant teratorn sightings and watch sight... 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