I have returned! And as thanks for your patience I'm going to give you all something special. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the original Thunder Bird, Haast's Eagle.

Although this living Thunder Bird's official name is Harpagornis most people (including some paleontologists) tend to prefer calling it the Haast's Eagle since it was first discovered by a man named Julius von Haast.

This giant eagle was the undisputed apex predator of New Zealand from the Pleistocene all the way to the late Holocene.

A fully grown adult could reach up to 2 feet and 11 inches in height and pose an 8.5 foot wingspan. But believe it or not this is actually a short wingspan for an animal of its size. The reason they had such short wings was to allow them to easily maneuver through the dense forests that covered New Zealand at the time. This trait can still be observed in today's Harpy Eagle.

The Haast's Eagle would have been large enough and strong enough to take down the many species of Moas that lived in New Zealand at the time.

(The big flightless one is the Moa while the other that is attacking it is the Haast's Eagle.)

And if you think we were lucky to never have to worry about becoming its next meal, think again, because the Haast's Eagle went extinct in 1400 CE, long after man arrived in New Zealand.

Diet: Small to large creatures and possibly even humans.

Casualties: One man and one woman.

Anomaly incident: An anomaly opened in the Mayan ruins of Tikal, Guatemala where it proceeded to attract a lot of attention from the nearby tourists.

Meanwhile an ARC team was dispatched to the anomaly's coordinates after its signature appeared on the monitors within the facility.

When the ARC team arrived in Guatemala they made a beeline straight for Tikal and the anomaly.

But before the ARC team could arrive to the ruins a Haast's Eagle flew out of the anomaly and began attacking the humans as it recognized them as easy prey from its own time period.

The Thunder Bird knocked a man off one of the pyramids during its rampage and consequently killed him after the man broke his neck in the ruin's stone steps.

Finally the giant eagle sunk its 2.5 inch long talons in a woman's back and forced her to the ground.

It then finished her off by plunging its massive beak into the back of the woman's head killing her instantly. The Thunder Bird then began to feed on its newest kill.

However its midday meal was soon interrupted by the arrival of the ARC team who proceeded to shoot tranquilizer darts at the bird of prey.

But before the darts could make contact with the bird's body, it flew off into the jungle only leaving behind a few of its feathers and the woman's carcass.

The ARC team began chasing after the giant prehistoric eagle, but quickly lost sight of it as the bird of prey effortlessly flew through the forest.

The ARC team began to plan on how to find the Haast's Eagle and force it to fly back through the anomaly without becoming its next meal along the way.

Then paleontologist (*********) proposed a plan so crazy that it might just work. He suggested that one of the team members would act as bait while the others tried to tranquilize the giant eagle. If they couldn't get any hits on it then the bait should start running back towards the anomaly.

Obviously no one wanted to play the role of bait so they drew straws to decide.

Zoologist (**********) got the shortest straw and with great reluctance he walked out into a clearing and began to make his best impression of a distressed bird call hoping that it would attract the avian predator.

After ten minutes of calling they finally got the response they were looking for. The high pitched screech of the Harpagornis was heard from above and quickly the giant eagle rushed down towards (**********). Without any hesitation he began to run back towards the anomaly like there was no tomorrow.

The rest of the ARC team tried their best to tranquilize the Haast's Eagle, but it was just too fast while it was inside the treeline and the darts instead hit the trees.

Soon (**********) got to the ruins with the Haast's Eagle still hot on his tail. With adrenaline pulsing through his veins he made one last sprint up the pyramid and was now standing in front of the anomaly.

He then heard the screeches coming from the bird of prey and right as the Thunder Bird was about to grab him in its talons (**********) threw himself to the ground and was just barely missed by the Haast's Eagle's claws.

Before it could do anything else the Haast's Eagle flew through the anomaly as the portal closed behind it sending it back into its own time period.

Once (**********) reunited with the rest of the ARC team he proceeded to walk up to (*********) and say "next time you're the bait."