Animal: Emu

Scientific Name: Dromaius novaehollandiae

Animal Type: Bird

Habitats: Prairie and Steppe, Savanna, Temperate Forest

The Emu:

The Emu is a large flightless bird similar to the Ostrich. It is the largest bird native to Australia.

Physical Characteristics:

Emus are large birds. The largest can reach up to two metres (6 ft 7 inches) in height (1 to 1.3 metres (3.2 to 4.3 ft) at the shoulder) and weigh between 30 and 45 kilograms (66 to 100 pounds). They have small vestigial wings and a long neck and legs. Their ability to run at high speeds is due to their highly specialised pelvic limb musculature. Their feet have only three toes and a similarly reduced number of bones and associated foot muscles; they are the only birds with gastrocnemius muscles in the back of the lower legs. The pelvic limb muscles of Emus have a similar contribution to total body mass as the flight muscles of flying birds.

Emus have brown to grey-brown plumage of shaggy appearance; the shafts and the tips of the feathers are black. Solar radiation is absorbed by the tips, and the loose-packed inner plumage insulates the skin. The resultant heat is prevented from flowing to the skin by the insulation provided by the coat, allowing the bird to be active during the heat of the day. The sexes are similar in appearance.

Food Chain:

Emus forage for food during the day. They eat a variety of native and introduced plant species; the type of plants eaten depends on seasonal availability. They also eat insects, including grasshoppers and crickets, lady birds, soldier and saltbush caterpillars, Bogong and cotton-boll moth larvae and ants.

In Western Australia, food preferences have been observed in travelling Emus: they eat seeds from Acacia aneura until it rains, after which they eat fresh grass shoots and caterpillars; in winter they feed on the leaves and pods of Cassia; in spring, they feed on grasshoppers and quandong fruit. Emus may serve as an important agent for the dispersal of large viable seeds, which could contribute to the maintenance of floral biodiversity.

Habitat features:

The Emu is common over most of mainland Australia, although it avoids heavily populated areas, dense forest and arid areas. In Western Australia, Emu movements follow a distinct seasonal pattern; north in summer and south in winter. On the east coast their wanderings do not appear to follow a pattern.