Height: 4.9 to 6.2 feet (1.5 to 1.9 meters)
Weight: 66 to 150 pounds (30 to 68 kilograms)
Life span: 10 to 20 years in the wild, up to 35 years in zoos
Incubation: about 8 weeks
Number of eggs laid: 5 to 15 eggs per clutch, up to three clutches per season
Age of maturity: 2 to 3 years
Conservation status: lower risk
The Emu is a flightless bird that belongs to the Ratite family. It is the largest bird native to Australia, while also enjoying an increase in numbers throughout Europe due to a growing interest in the emu farming industry. With a stride that can reach over 2 metres and a sprint speed of up to 31 mph, the emu can easily travel great distances, which it often does in the wild when searching for food. It may sound surprising but emus love water, and are able swimmers.
Although our birds don't have the luxury of a pool they do love sitting under a sprinkler in the summer! Emus are very curious birds, something we are all too familiar with, and will follow and watch over other animals and people. Emus get sleep through short stints whilst sitting down. The emu has strong clawed feet and extremely strong legs which it utilises when it feels threatened. They also have incredible eyesight and hearing, which makes them very alert to their surroundings. The emu has two sets of eye lids, one for blinking, and one for keeping out dust.
The emu is a soft feathered bird. Their feather structure prevents heat from flowing into the skin, allowing the emu to stay active during the hottest seasons. It is difficult to visually differentiate between a male and female bird, however the sounds they make are noticeably different. The male is also more friendly, with the female being more nervous. Emus can be sexed through DNA testing on the feathers, which is the technique we use in order to be certain of their sex. Emus are susceptible to many of the usual bird infections, which you will be familiar with if you keep other poultry. Infections can be transmitted by other birds, or even people. With sensible routines and good hygiene, the emu will stay healthy.
Rheas are large, flightless birds native to South America, resembling a smaller ostrich, and are known in different regions as ñandus, ema, suri, or choique. Two main species are recognized: the greater (Rhea americana) and the lesser or Darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata), with the IUCN additionally listing the puna rhea as a separate species. They are characterized by gray-brown plumage, long legs, and an ability to run swiftly with wings outstretched acting as sails; they also uniquely store urine separately in their cloacas.
These birds are found across a variety of South American habitats, from grasslands to shrubland, with the greater rhea preferring regions up to 1,500 meters, and the lesser rhea higher altitudes up to 4,500 meters. Rheas have a diet mainly consisting of plants but also include insects, small reptiles, and rodents. Breeding involves a polygamous system where males incubate and protect eggs laid by multiple females.The greater and puna rheas are considered near-threatened, whereas the Darwin's rhea is of least concern. Additionally, feral populations have arisen in Germany and the UK after escapes from captivity. Rheas have cultural and practical significance in South America, being used for their feathers, skin, and meat, and historically were hunted by gauchos with bolas. Their images have also been featured on currency in Argentina and Uruguay.
Ostriches cannot fly, but don't feel too sorry for them. The ostrich is the fastest bipedal runner in the world, capable of reaching speeds up to 45 miles per hour--about twice what the fastest human can achieve. What's more, an ostrich can maintain this speed for up to half an hour.
The ancient Roman encyclopedist and philosopher Pliny the Elder once wrote that the ostrich, being profoundly stupid, sticks its head into a bush at the first sign of danger and considers itself invisible. Here's the truth about this magnificent, maligned bird.
To dispel the ancient libel, ostriches do not bury their heads when faced with danger--a species that did so would hardly be able to survive for more than 120 million years. They do, however, stretch their long necks flat on the ground when they sleep; from a distance, it can look as though their heads are buried.Of the three main varieties of ostriches, only the African black ostrich (Struthio camelus domesticus) is found in captivity. They are farmed for meat, leather, and feathers in at least 50 countries and just about all climatic conditions, from Alaska to equatorial Africa. Ostriches have the best feed-to-weight ratio gain of any farmed land animal in the world and produce the strongest commercially available leather.
The ostrich's eyes are about the size of billiard balls. They take up so much room in the skull that the ostrich's brain is actually smaller than either one of its eyeballs. This may be why the ostrich, despite its tremendous running speed, is not very good at eluding predators: It tends to run in circles.
ostrich's intestines are 46 feet long--about twice as long as those of a human. This enables the bird to get the most out of the tough plants it eats. To help with digestion, it also swallows sand and small stones to break down food in its gizzard. Ostriches in captivity have been known to swallow just about anything that can fit down their gullet, including bicycle valves, alarm clocks, and even small bottle.
The ostrich is the largest living bird in the world. An ostrich chick grows one foot taller each month until it is seven or eight months old. Adult ostrich roosters are six to ten feet in height and can weigh as much as 340 pounds. Because of their prodigious size, ostriches were occasionally used for riding or pulling chariots in ancient Egypt; the practice never really took off, because the ostrich has a nasty temper.
This great bird has only two toes; all other birds have three or four. Ostriches kick forward, not backward, because that's the direction in which their knees bend. Ostriches never need to drink water--some of it they make internally, and the rest is derived from the vegetation they eat.
Although the ostrich egg is the largest of all eggs, it is the smallest egg in relation to the size of the bird. A three-pound egg is only about 1 percent as heavy as the ostrich hen; by contrast, a kiwi's egg--the largest in comparison to the mother--is 15 to 20 percent of the mother bird's mass. An ostrich egg is equivalent in volume to two dozen chicken eggs.
Physiologus, an early Christian text compiled around the second century A.D. and a popular read in the Middle Ages, asserts that the ostrich incubates its eggs by staring at them. It was widely held at the time that vision was the effect of special "seeing" rays emanating from one's eyes; thus, the heat in the gaze of the ostrich hatched its chicks. The author of Physiologus presents this as an allegory to inspire worshippers to keep their eyes on Christ.
Where does the name cassowary come from?
Cassowary’ originates from two Papuan words: ‘kasu’ (meaning horned) and ‘wari’ (meaning head). The name refers to the cassowary’s casque, a hollow structure made of keratin (similar to that making our hair and nails), found on the bird’s head.
The southern cassowary is also known as the double-watted cassowary.
How many species of cassowary are there?
There are three extant (living) species of cassowary:
Where are southern cassowaries found?
Compared to the other extant species of cassowary, the southern cassowary is found in the southernmost parts of the genus’ range: northeastern Australia and south Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. The habitat of southern cassowaries is dense tropical rainforest.
What do southern cassowaries look like?
Southern cassowaries are prehistoric-looking birds with deep blue heads and necks, two bright red wattles (flaps of skin), a casque, and dense, long, black feathers. Reaching up to six feet tall, southern cassowaries are the third-tallest birds on Earth, after ostriches and emus of which they are related, and the second heaviest after ostriches. Females can weigh up to 76kg and are larger than the males who can weigh up to 55kg.
What do cassowaries eat?
Cassowaries are predominantly frugivorous, feeding on fruits that have fallen to the forest floor, but will predate on small vertebrates where available. The seeds of digested fruits are passed in the cassowary’s faeces and so cassowaries play an important role in seed dispersal.
Are cassowaries dangerous?
A typically shy and reclusive bird, cassowaries will, like most animals, become aggressive when threatened. They possess a sharp claw, up to 12cm in length, on the inner toe of each foot. When threatened, cassowaries will jump and strike with this claw, potentially resulting in lethal lacerations.
Can cassowaries fly?
Like ostriches, emus, rheas, and kiwis, cassowaries are ratites, flightless birds that possess a flat breastbone that is unable to support the muscles required for flight.
How do cassowaries communicate?
Cassowaries are typically solitary animals, but during the breeding season communicate through infrasonic booms (low frequency sounds below the range of human hearing). When in close proximity, cassowaries also communicate through subtle courtship behaviours, such as strutting in a circle, head shaking, throat and neck swelling, and high stepping to attract a mate.
Why are southern cassowary eggs green?
The greenish colour of southern cassowary eggs comes from biliverdin, a common pigment found in bird eggshells. As cassowaries are ground-nesting birds, the green colour of their eggs is used for camouflage against the surrounding vegetation in tropical forests to protect the eggs from potential predators.