EMU – ICONIC AUSTRALIAN BIRD

13 Facts about the Emu

Updated Apr 2022

The Emu

Above all, one of the birds that I wanted to see on my tour of Australia was the Emu. Therefore, I was delighted to find several of them at Wilson’s Promontory National Park in Victoria state. This huge, shaggy, flightless bird is fascinating. Most noteworthy, the Emu is an Australian icon, appearing on stamps and coins and, along with the kangaroo, on the country’s coat-of-arms.

Here is a list of facts about the Emu:

1. the second-largest bird in the world after the Ostrich
2. endemic to Australia
3. about two metres in height (6.2 feet)
4. they can run at almost 50 kph (30 mph)
5. like the Ostrich, it is the males that incubate the eggs.
6. the eggs are very dark green and weigh from 450 to 650 grams (1 to 1.4 pounds)
7. the eggs hatch after eight weeks, and the chicks are cared for by the father
8. the chicks are black and white striped
9. the chicks are full-grown after six months.
10. found in most of Australia
11. can weigh from 18 to 60 kg (40 to 132 pounds)
12. they eat mostly plants but also insects.
13. Emus have tiny vestiges of wings that are now quite useless. You can see them hanging down just in front of the legs in the photo.

Similar Birds

In conclusion, here are three birds that are similar to the Emu.

Other similar birds are the Cassowary, the Ostrich and the Moa. The Moa was a giant of a bird reaching 3.6 metres in height (12 feet) and weighing 230 kg (510 pounds). They were endemic to New Zealand. However, they were hunted to extinction before the arrival of Europeans.

Cassowaries are native to Cape York Peninsula in the far northeast of Australia.

In addition to native birds, Ostriches are initially from Africa, but now they can also be seen living wild in Australia.