Emu
Emu Description
The Emu is Australia's tallest native bird, reaching 1.6-1.9m when standing erect. It weighs 30-45kg, which is lighter than its closest living relative, the Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius. Emus are easy to identify. Adult Emus are covered with shaggy grey-brown feathers except for the neck and head, which are largely naked and bluish-black. The wings are greatly reduced, but the legs are long and powerful. Each foot has three forward-facing toes and no hind toe.
Emu Distribution and habitat
The Emu is found only in Australia. It lives throughout most of the continent, ranging from coastal regions to high in the Snowy Mountains. The main habitats are sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland. These birds are rarely found in rainforest or very arid areas. Emus were once found in Tasmania, but were exterminated soon after Europeans arrived. Two dwarf species of emus that lived on Kangaroo Island and King Island also became extinct.
Emu Behaviour
Emus eat fruits, seeds, growing shoots of plants, insects, other small animals, and animal droppings. They move within their range according to climatic conditions. If sufficient food and water are present, birds will reside in one area. Where these resources are more variable, Emus move as needed to find suitable conditions. They are known to move hundreds of kilometres, sometimes at rates of 15-25km per day. Most people see Emus along roadsides, near fences or other barriers, giving the impression of close association. However, Emus are not really sociable, except for young birds, which stay with their father.
Their calls consist of booming, drumming and grunting. Booming is created in an inflatable neck sac, and can be heard up to 2km away.
Emu Breeding
Nesting takes place in winter. The male and female remain together for about five months, which includes courtship, nest building and egg-laying. The nest consists of a platform of grass on the ground, about 10cm thick and 1-2m in diameter. Five to 15 eggs, measuring 130x90mm, are laid at intervals of 2-4 days. These are dark bluish-green when fresh, becoming lighter with exposure to the sun. The shells are thick, with paler green and white layers under the dark outer layer.
The female dominates the male during pair formation but once incubation begins, the male becomes aggressive to other Emus, including his mate. The female wanders away and leaves the male to perform all the incubation. Sometimes she will find another mate and breed again. The male sits on the nest for 55 days without drinking, feeding, defecating or leaving the nest. During this time, eggs often roll out of the nest and are pulled back in by the male.
Newly hatched chicks are cream-coloured with dark brown stripes. They leave the nest at 2-7 days when they are able to feed themselves. Young birds stay close together and remain with the male for four months. They finally leave at about six months. During this period, the stripes fade and the downy plumage is replaced by dull brown feathers. Emus are nearly fully grown at one year, and may breed at 20 months.
Emu farming has been tried for several decades but recently interest has been growing in this industry. A pair of Emus may produce ten eggs a year under good captive conditions, which yield on average 5.5 chicks. At the end of 15 months, these would yield 4m2 of leather, 150 kg of meat, 5.5 kg of feathers, and 2.7 1 of oil. Eggshells of infertile eggs, are suitable for carving.
Sun-bleached eggs are generally those that have not hatched and are left in the nest after the male and young have left. Bleaching takes about three months.
Emu Diet
Fruit, flowers, seeds, nuts, shoots, insects and small rodents or lizards. They ingest large stones into gizzard to aid grinding process.
Emu Life Cycle
Emus live five-10 years in the wild, but can live longer in captivity (35+ years).Emu Reproduction
Female emus will lay up to 15 dark green eggs into a nest built by their mate. The male emu both incubates and rears the chicks, which is unusual for a bird, until the chicks are about seven months old.
| Species | Incubation Period (days) | Species | Incubation Period (days) |
| Blue fronted Amazons | 26-28 | Tucuman Amazons | 24-26 |
| Cuban Amazons Amazons | 24-26 | White-fronted Amazons | 24-26 |
| Double-yellow head Amazons | 26-28 | Yellow-crowned Amazons | 26-28 |
| Hispaniolan Amazons | 24-26 | Yellow-shouldered Amazons | 26-28 |
| Green-cheeked Amazons | 26-28 | Yellow naped Amazons | 26-28 |
| Orange-winged Amazons | 25-27 | Ducorp’s Cockatoos | 26-28 |
| Bare eyed Cockatoos | 23-25 | Gang gang Cockatoos | 24-26 |
| Citron-crested Cockatoos | 25-27 | Greater s. crested Cockatoos | 25-27 |
| Lesser s. crested Cockatoos | 24-26 | Goffin’s Cockatoos | 24-26 |
| Major Mitchell’s Cockatoos | 24-26 | Rose breasted Cockatoos | 20-23 |
| Medium s. creasted Cockatoos | 24-26 | Slender billed Cockatoos | 25-27 |
| Moluccan Cockatoos | 28-30 | Triton Cockatoos | 25-27 |
| Red-vented Cockatoos | 27-29 | Red-tailed Cockatoos | 30-31 |
| Umbrella Cockatoos | 27-29 | Palm Cockatoos | 39-31 |
| Blue & gold Macaws | 25-27 | Green-winged Macaws | 26-28 |
| Buffon’s Macaws | 25-27 | Hyacinth Macaws | 26-28 |
| Caninde Macaws | 24-27 | Illiger’s Macaws | 24-26 |
| Military Macaws | 24-26 | Severe Macaws | 24-26 |
| Red-fronted Macaws | 25-27 | Yellow-collared Macaws | 24-26 |
| Scarlet Macaws | 25-27 | African grey | 27-29 |
| Black-headed caique | 23-25 | Thick-billed parrot | 24-26 |
| Golden conure | 24-26 | White-bellied caique | 23-25 |