Largest organisms were related to the ostrich. They exceeded in height and . The last of the elephant birds became extinct about 300 years ago. Of almost exactly the same upper proportions as the largest elephant birds was "Dromornis stirtoni" of Australia, part of a 26,000-year-old group called mihirungs of the family Dromornithidae. The largest carnivorous bird was "Brontornis", an extinct flightless bird from South America which reached a weight of and a height of about . The tallest carnivorous bird was "Kelenken", which could reach 3 to 3.2 meters in height and 220 to 250 kilograms. The tallest bird ever was
Bird egg birds with small clutch size tended to be indeterminate. Many animals feed on eggs. For example, the principal predators of the black oystercatcher's eggs include raccoons, skunks, mink, river and sea otters, gulls, crows and foxes. The stoat ("Mustela erminea") and long-tailed weasel ("M. frenata") steal ducks' eggs. Snakes of the genera "Dasypeltis" and "Elachistodon" specialize in eating eggs. Humans have a long history of both eating wild bird eggs and raising birds for farmed eggs for consumption. Brood parasitism occurs in birds when one species lays its eggs in the nest of another. In some cases, the host's eggs