Roc

The Roc was a monstrous bird from Madagascar with feahters as large as palm frongs and a body huge enough to carry off a fully-grown elephant. It frequently raided mainland Africa and Arabia to hunt its favored prey. Marco Polo and Sinbad the Sailor are both said to have encountered one of these colossal birds. Sinbad and his crew broke one of the beast's colossal eggs, inadvertently discovering another trait of the Roc: its vengeful nature. The Roc attacked Sinbad's fleet to get back at them for destroying its unborn chick, both by throwing bounders and by physically attacking them. The Roc was a vicious and relentless predator. This creature was probably based off of the Arabian Sharokh, but myths of the Roc are strikingly similar to that of other mythical beasts like the Native American Thunderbird and the Brazilian Blue Crow. Perhaps all of these giant mythical birds are based on the same creature-- a real giant bird that is either now extinct or yet undiscovered.