🐾 Emu

Emu

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Dromaius novaehollandiae
• Family & relatives: A large flightless bird related to the ostrich, cassowary, rhea, and kiwi, in the group called ratites.
• How to spot it: A very tall brown bird with soft shaggy feathers, a long neck, a small head, and strong three-toed legs.

Its body & abilities

• Size: About 1.5 to 1.9 m tall, the second-tallest bird in the world after the ostrich.
• Weight: Roughly 30 to 55 kg (66 to 121 lb).
• Body & adaptations: It cannot fly, but its long powerful legs are built for fast running and mighty kicks.
• Top speed: A fast runner that can sprint up to about 50 km/h (31 mph).
• Strength: Its strong legs can carry it huge distances and deliver a powerful kick to keep it safe.
• Senses: Very good eyesight and hearing that help it spot food and danger across open country.
• Growing up: Striped chicks hatch able to walk and follow their father, who guards them for up to seven months.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Open woodlands, grasslands, and dry scrub across the countryside.
• Where in the world: Found only in Australia, roaming much of the continent.
• Territory: It wanders widely following rain and food and does not defend a fixed patch of land.

What it eats

• Diet: An omnivore that eats plants and insects and drinks a lot of water when it can find it.
• Favorite foods: Seeds, fruit, flowers, fresh shoots, and insects like grasshoppers and beetles.
• How it hunts: It walks across the land pecking up plants and insects and swallows small stones that help grind its food.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Walks and runs on two strong legs with a smooth striding gait and can also swim across rivers.
• When it is active: Active by day, feeding in the morning and evening and resting during the hottest hours.
• Family life: Often roams alone or in small groups, sometimes gathering in larger flocks near food and water.
• How it talks: Makes deep booming, drumming, and grunting sounds that can carry far across the plains.
• Babies: The female lays big dark-green eggs, then the father sits on them for about eight weeks and raises the chicks.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: Spreads seeds across the land as it eats and travels; dingoes and eagles are its main predators.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, common and widespread across Australia.
• Dangers: Dies mainly from predators of its eggs and chicks, drought, and road accidents.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: About 10 to 20 years in the wild and sometimes longer in captivity.
• In our culture: A national symbol of Australia, appearing on the country's coat of arms alongside the kangaroo.
• Where to see it: Grasslands and parks across Australia, plus zoos and wildlife parks around the world.
• Fun fact: The father emu does all the work of hatching the eggs and can go weeks barely eating while he sits on the nest.