stylistic:tone, linguistic:voice_change
Feathers and soft tissues

Several examples of moa remains have been found with soft tissues (muscle, skin, feathers) preserved through desiccation after the bird died at a dry site (for example, a cave with a constant dry breeze blowing through it). Most were found in the semiarid Central Otago region, the driest part of New Zealand. These include:

Two specimens are known from outside the Central Otago region:

In addition to these specimens, loose moa feathers have been collected from caves and rock shelters in the southern South Island, and based on these remains, some idea of the moa plumage has been achieved. The preserved leg of M. didinus from the Old Man Range reveals that this species was feathered right down to the foot. This is likely to have been an adaptation to living in high-altitude, snowy environments, and is also seen in the Darwin’s rhea, which lives in a similar seasonally snowy habitat.

Moa feathers are up to 23 cm (9 in) long, and a range of colours has been reported, including reddish-brown, white, yellowish, and purplish. Dark feathers with white or creamy tips have also been found, and indicate that some moa species may have had plumage with a speckled appearance.