Moa, Lawn

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The Lawn Moa is a sub-species of the large flightless bird once native to New Zealand, and was jointly developed by the RHS and the RSPB, primarily for use in the garden.

Although its main purpose is decorative, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, the Lawn Moa’s razor-sharp beak can trim grass to the standard required of championship tennis courts and putting greens.

Attempts have also been made to interbreed the moa with a variety of seabirds, the most successful of these being the Petrel Moa, but similar programmes crossing the moa with a kestrel have so far failed to produce a functioning Hover Moa and the few prototypes which have survived are now employed as nest tidies in Scottish osprey projects.

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