Skip to main content

Emu: Australia's largest bird



The emu is a common Australian bird with beady eyes (with excellent sight) and a curious nature. The emu is the second largest bird in the world, second to its relative the ostrich – hence it is also a ratite. It is found across Australia, except in highly urban areas. As cities have developed emus have moved further away from dense urban regions, preferring bush and scrubland.

The emu is large – up to 2 metres tall (6 feet) – and like an ostrich, is has a long neck. Unlike the black and white feathers of the ostrich, the emu has brown feathers. Males and females look similar. Its neck has a blue tinge. It weighs up to 60 kilograms (132 pounds).


It can’t fly, but it can run quite fast – up to 30 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour). The scientific Latin name (Dromaius novaehollandiae) means “fast-footed New Hollander” – because Australia was once called New Holland.

Its long legs enable the emu to take enormous strides. Its feet have strong, sharp claws (with three toes), and its beak is hard, with excellent strike power. Hence, it can be quite aggressive, especially when looking for food (at people’s picnics and barbecues).

Female emus circle the males during mating season, while stretching their necks backwards and puffing up their feathers. Females will fight for a prospective male (some fights last up to five hours), or stare at each other menacingly.

Males make the nest on the ground. Emu eggs are also large, like ostrich eggs, and are dark-green (10-20 of them per nest). Each egg is the equivalent in volume to 10-12 chicken eggs. Males incubate the eggs very diligently for about 8 weeks, and also look after the little emus (called chicks) until they reach full size, which takes six or seven months.

They sleep at night (by folding their legs on the ground), intermittently for up to seven hours, and become quite active during the day. They feed on plants, seeds, and insects. They also eat small pebbles to help them digest plants. And they have been known to eat car keys.

Emu fat is made into oil for healing skin ailments, because it has anti-inflammatory properties. The oil is great to rub into sore muscles.








They live between 10 to 20 years.
MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more