A Cassowary is a flightless Australian bird, and is native to the tropical forests of New Guinea.
It’s funny because Australia has another flightless bird, the emu, making it and the cassowary the 2nd and 3rd largest flightless birds in the world, behind Africa’s ostrich.
Females are larger than males and are more vividly colored, and may reach up to 2 meters tall! That’s a big bird!
Known to be a timid bird, it can inflict serious injury to human adults, and fatal injury to dogs and children. They have 3 toes and extremely sharp talons/claws.
Check out this great, but short, video showing a wild Cassowary on an island of the Great Barrier Reef:
They are omnivorous, but mostly eat fruits, shoots, grass seeds, as well as fungi. However, it will also make a quick meal of invertebrates and small vertebrates alike.
2 of the species produce a very low pitch frequency that is just on the cusp of the lower end of human hearing, which is thought to assist with communication in dense forest habitat, and is likened to a “boom”.
Conservation Status:
The Southern Cassowary is Endangered in Queensland, Australia due to habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as being hit by cars and attacked by dogs. Hunting, natural disease and destroying/removing animals that have attacked humans all contribute as well.
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Struthioniformes
Family: Casuariidae
Genus: Casuarius
Species: There are 4 species – C. casuarius, C. unappendiculatus, C. bennetti, C. lydekki
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I hope you enjoyed this Bird post on Exotic Animal Lover during Great Barrier Reef Month! Until next time…
Live Exotically,
Kimberly Edwards 
P.S. Please be sure to Vote for Me to win the Dream Job of Caretaker of Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia:
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