The Southern Cassowary

• The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the Ostrich and Emu.
• The name cassowary comes from two Papuan words, ‘kasu’ meaning horned and ‘weri’ meaning head, referring to the prominent casque on its head
• An adult cassowary can stand up to 1.8 metres (6’) tall.
• Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies.
• The male cassowary is solely responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the young. They sit on the nest for 50 days until the eggs hatch.
• The father teaches the chicks how to forage and by nine months they become independent.
• There are only about 1500 cassowaries left in the wild.

We sell Cassowary plush toys in our store, these make a great gift for children or the child at heart, click here to see our cassowary products.

Photo credit: wendishness

Emu in the wild

• The Emu is native to Australia and it is believed to have existed almost unchanged for over 80 million years.
• Emus grow to approximately 6 feet tall and is the second largest bird in the world.
• Emu and ostrich are totally different birds.  The only similarity they share is that they are both flightless.
• The Emu is an omnivore.  In the wild its diet consists of grains and seeds and small rodents, reptiles and birds.
• Females can lay up to 60 eggs per season.  The average egg production for a hen is 30 to 40 eggs.
• The eggs are dark green and weigh 1 to 1 1/2 pounds (500 to 780 grams).
• The male Emu incubates the eggs 50 to 60 days and then raises the chicks.
• An Emu grows quickly and reaches its full height in one year.
• Emus love water and are excellent swimmers.
• Emus grow to approximately 6 feet tall.

We sell some terrific emu products in our store, from pewter figurines to plush toys – click here to check them out.

Kookaburra

• Kookaburras use their laughing call to defend their territories and guard their mates.
• Their laugh is one of the most familiar sounds of the Australian bush.
• Early European settlers in Australia called them the “settlers’ clock”, because of their loud laughing choruses every morning.
• They are common around picnic areas, where they can steal food from unguarded tables – or even right off the grill.
• They can catch and kill snakes in the bush.
• In urban areas they also hunt mice and rats.
• They can live for more than 20 years and have the same mate for life.
• Young kookaburras stay with the family for several years. Family groups of more than 6 are common.
• Their greatest threat in surburbia is from the loss of trees due to development.

Check out our selection of great kookaburra plush toys, pewter figurines and pins – click here to purchase kookaburra products.

Black Swan

• Black swans are vegetarians eating mostly algae and weeds.
• They occasionally graze on land but are clumsy walkers.
• Like all swans they are strictly monogamous.
• Black swans grow to approximately 120cm in size, males are a little larger.
• Their weight is from 5.6 – 6.2 kg up to 9 kg.
• Their wing span reaches from 150 – 200 cm.
• They are black with a white band on the end of their wings which are visible when they fly.
• They have bright red eyes.
• Male swans are called cobs, females are pens, and young are cygnets.
• Swans in general have the largest eggs of any flighted bird.
• Swans have far more neck vertebrae than mammals, with 24 or 25 vertebrae; most mammals only have seven.

Posted Fri May 15, 2009 10:40am AEST
Updated Fri May 15, 2009 1:17pm AEST

Randy ... Edward the emu. (Petrena Arriston)

A sexually-frustrated male emu is chasing a woman in the Northern Territory because it cannot find a female mate.

Patrena Arriston from Katherine, 300 kilometres south of Darwin, says her seven-year-old emu, Edward, began sitting on an empty nest last year and now chases her when she comes close to it.

“It’s starting to get a bit frustrated and when I go in there to pet it or feed the chooks and stuff like that, I sort of get rounded up,” she said.

“It keeps circling me and I have to get a palm frond and hold it up and sort of push it away.”

She says there is a female emu 800 kilometres away but she does not have a trailer to bring it to her property.

Read More at ABC News

THE STORY CONTINUES……

Gender confusion stalls emu love match

Posted Fri May 29, 2009 11:00am AEST
Updated Fri May 29, 2009 11:21am AEST

The owner of a remote Northern Territory roadhouse which bills itself as one of the world’s UFO hotspots is hoping to play matchmaker in the case of a sex-starved pet emu located 800 kilometres away.

But there’s a problem: the roadhouse owner can’t tell which of his pet emus are male and which are female.

The lonely plight of Edward the emu attracted global attention earlier this month after it was revealed he was sitting on an empty nest and exhibiting amorous behaviour towards his owner because he did not have a mate.

Concerned for Edward’s welfare, owner Patrena Arriston appealed for help to deliver a female emu from Wycliffe Well to Katherine to give the frustrated male emu some much-needed company.

Read More at ABC News

Let’s hope Edward meets the girl of his dreams as soon as they can work out a suitable partner and he lives a happy and long life up in the Top End. We will endeavour to update you on their success as we hear more.

Our Backyard Buddies (Kookaburras)

Wild Kookaburra Sitting In A Tree

Nan Feeding a Kookaburra on the verandah

They definitely live up to their laughing reputation, some mornings it’s a little like having a large group of roosters to wake up to as they make their famous laughing call.

Kookaburras have always been pretty friendly, they’ve picked up spiders and other things for food from the yard and have actually gotten quite close to us – not so close you can touch them but my grandmother used to be able to get right near them and have them eat out of her hand which was really exciting to see. One day when Nan was feeding a kookaburra, it actually spat a funnel web spider out in front her that it had picked up to eat from the yard – you can believe she was shocked!

Kookaburras come from the Kingfisher family and are found in both Australia and New Guinea. They are extremely well known Australia wide and can be found as the subject of songs, coins and postage stamps as well as forming part of business logos and names.