Although there is controversy over whether the elephant bird was actually the world's largest bird, there's no question that it was a massive bird. Here's everything you need to know about the elephant bird.

The elephant bird was massive

The elephant bird was a large bird that looked like an ostrich and is considered the largest bird that ever walked the earth. The elephant bird is believed to have had a tiny head, rotund, high torso and long legs. The elephant bird looked like an ostrich and did not fly. It walked around the island of Madagascar, which is off the southeastern coast of Africa.

All we know of the elephant bird we've learned from historical documents, fossils and legends because this bird, which grew up to 10 feet tall, has been extinct since the mid-1600s. It's believed that the elephant bird made itself known to the world about 60 million years ago, but no one knows for sure.

The information that has been gathered about the elephant bird is incomplete and often times, lends itself to a wide array of speculation. In fact, much of what we know about the elephant bird has been contrived by looking at small pieces of elephant bird shell fossils. Some whole eggs that the elephant bird buried years and years ago have also been found on beaches.

The first people to document the elephant bird's presence were the French, who were believed to have visited Madagascar in the 1600s. Before the French and European settlers visited the area, it was largely populated by Africans and Indonesians. The French nicknamed the elephant bird the marsh bird because it laid its eggs in long tall grass. This is a very ostrich-like thing to do.

The Elephant Bird is a Legend

The elephant bird has made a cameo in many tales that have been passed on from generation to generation. The elephant bird is the bird that many consider to have haunted Sinbad the Sailor. Marco Polo has also made reference to what we presume to be was this massive bird.

Who's the largest? Elephant or Moa?

There is scientific debate as to whether the elephant bird is actually the largest bird that ever walked the earth. The Moa, which is another large ancient bird, give the elephant bird a run for title as the largest walking bird. Even those who don’t agree that the elephant bird was the largest walking bird in the world; they'd be hard pressed to disagree with the fact that it was a massive bird.