Order Casuariiformes / Emus & Cassowaries

Here are the characteristics of order Casuariiformes:

• These birds are large and heavy. For instance, the emu can be up to 1.8 meters in height and can weigh 55 kg.
• In emus and cassowaries, females are usually slightly larger than males;
• The plumage of Casuariformes is usually brown, while naked skin on head and neck can be colored blue (in emus) or orange/red (in cassowaries).
• All birds in the order have long, strong legs and equally long necks with relatively small heads.
• Casuariformes have hair-like feathers that lack secondary branches called barbules.
• These birds have no differentiated tails or tail feathers.
• Casuariformes have only three toes, the middle toe on both legs has an elongated and dagger-like claw.
• Several bones of the skeleton are reduced in all species in the order.
• They have no keel, as well as the wing bones. Only the collarbone remains, and the humerus is significantly shortened.
• Their wings are modified into 5 hollow spines.
• The birds in Casuariiformes order are monogamous.
• These birds build no nests, and the eggs are laid into depressions in the grass.
• In the pair, the female lays the eggs, and the male is responsible for their incubation, as well as care for the young hatchlings.
• The young birds reach maturity in about two years.
• Cassowaries prefer tropical rainforest and can be aggressive.
• Emus can live in different conditions, from forests to grasslands.
• These birds are herbivorous: cassowaries feed on fruit; emus can also eat seeds and grasses.
• Both cassowaries and emus used to be one of the primary sources of food for Aborigines of Australia and New Zealand.
• For the white settlers, emus are often considered as pests, as they can eat the crops.

There are few living species in the order:

• Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius.
• Casuarius unappendiculatus
• Casuarius benneti
• Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae

There are also several extinct species:

• †Dromauis ocypus
• †Casuarius lydekkeri
• †Hypselornis sivalensis
• †Diogernonis fragilis