The Cryptid Zoo: Teratorns (or World's Biggest Flying Birds)

The teratorns are a group of presumably extinct birds that are related to condors. There are many flightless birds that got bigger than the teratorns, but the teratorns are the largest flying birds ever accepted by science as real. The biggest teratorn, from Argentina, stood as tall as a person and had a wingspan of about 25 feet. Others were smaller but still impressive. They lived over much of the New World, presumably going extinct only eight thousand years ago. Their bones are found in places where thunderbirds have been reported by both American Indian folklore and modern observers. Thus, according to scientists working in the field of cryptozoology, thunderbirds are supposed to be teratorns.

You can find out more about Teratorns from the following sources:

Clark, Jerome and Coleman, Loren. Cryptozoology A-Z. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Page 237-238

Evidence of the Giant Birds

Legend of the Giant Bird

Newton, Michael. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide to Hidden Animals and Their Pursuers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. Pages 67, 457

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Poole, Robert M., ed. The Wonder of Birds. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 1983. Pages 30 and 38

Shuker, Karl. The Beasts That Hide From Man: Seeking the World's Last Undiscovered Animals. New York: Paraview Press, 2003. Pages 277-278

Weidensaul, Scott. The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Species. New York: North Point Press, 2002. Page 170

Wikipedia, The. Teratorns