I do wonder if this is how the myth got started. It makes sense. Giant bird, tiny human. Hmmmm

A new species of giant stork that fed off human-like hobbits on a prehistoric Indonesian island is fresh evidence of a topsy-turvy parallel universe that once existed.

The previously unknown stork, an extinct type of marabou, stood 1.8 metres (6 feet) and weighed about 16 kilograms, paleontologist and discoverer Dr. Hanneke Meijer told the Star on Thursday.

“Fly? Not very well, I think. They wouldn't have gone very far if they could even get off the ground. But I don't think they needed to fly. They were the top predator of that ecosystem.â€