For other uses, see EMU.

The Emu (pronounced ), Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. The Emu is the second-largest flightless bird in the world, after its Ratite relative, the Ostrich. The soft-feathered, brown birds reach up to two metres in height and weigh up to 45 kilograms. The Emu is commmon over most of mainland Australia, although it avoids heavily populated areas, dense forest and very arid areas. Emus are able to travel great distances at a fast, economical trot and, if necessary, can sprint at 50 kilometres per hour for several kilometres at a time.Davies, S. J. J. F. 1963. Emus. Australian Natural History 14:225–29 They are opportunistically nomadic, and may travel long distances to find food; they feed on a variety of plants and insects.

The Emu subspecies that was inhabited Tasmania became extinct following the European settlement of Australia in 1788; the distribution of the mainland subspecies has also been affected by human activites. The Emu was once common on the east coast, but is now uncommon there; by contrast, the development of agriculture and the provision of water for stock in the interior of the continent has increased the range of the Emu in arid regions. Emus are farmed for their meat, oil and leather in Australia and in several locations elsewhere.

Taxonomy and distribution

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Three different emu species were common in Australian before European settlement. The small emus—Dromaius baudinianus and D. ater—both became extinct shortly after; however, the Emu, D. novaehollandiae, is common. The population varies from decade to decade, largely at the behest of rainfall; it is estimated that the Emu population is 625,000–725,000, with 100,000–200,000 in Western Australia and the majority of remaining populations in New South Wales and Queensland.Australian Museum. 2001. Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae Although emus are no longer found in the densely settled east coast and the southern and south-western agricultural areas, the provision of permanent stock water in arid regions has allowed the mainland species to extend its range. There are three extant sub-species in Australia:

• D. novaehollandiae novaehollandiae—south-east Australia - whitish ruff when breeding.
• D. novaehollandiae woodwardi—northern Australia - slender, paler.
• D. novaehollandiae rothschildi—south-west Australia - darker, no ruff during breeding.
• D. novaehollandiae diemenensis—Tasmania (the Tasmanian Emu became extinct around 1850).

This well-known bird was first described and under the name of the New Holland Cassowary in Arthur Phillip's Voyage to Botany Bay, published in 1789.Gould, J. 1865. Handbook to the Birds of Australia Volume 2. Reprinted in 1972 by Landsdowne Press The species was named by ornothologist John Latham, who collaborated on Phillp's book and provided the first descriptions of and names for many Australian bird species, its name is Latin for "fast-footed New Hollander".

Physical description

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Emus are large flightless birds that reach up to two metres in height (1–1.3 metres at the shoulder) and weigh between 30 and 45 kilograms. They have small residual wings. Their ability to run at high speeds is due to their highly specialised pelvic limb musculature. Their feet have only 3 toes and similarly reduced number of bones and associated foot muscles; they are also the only birds with gastrocnemius muscles in the back of the lower legs. Compared with other birds the pelvic limb muscles of Emus have a similar contribution to total body mass as the flight muscles of flying birds.Patak, A. E. and Baldwin, J. 1998 Pelvic limb musculature in the emu Dromaius novaehollandiae (Aves : Struthioniformes : Dromaiidae): Adaptations to high-speed running. Journal of Morphology 238:23–37 PMID 9768501

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,Maloney, S. K. and Dawson, T. J. 1995. The heat load from solar radiation on a large, diurnally active bird, the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Journal of Thermal Biology 20:381–87 which allows the bird to be active during the heat of the day. A unique feature of the Emu feathers is its double rachis emerging from a single shaft. The sexes are similar in appearance.

On very hot days, the Emu pants to maintain their body temperature, their lungs work as evaporative coolers and, unlike some other species, the resulting low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood do not appear to cause alkalosisMaloney, S.K and Dawson, T.J. 1994. Thermoregulation in a large bird, the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Biochemical Systemic and Environmental Physiology. 164:464–72 They must recharge their fluids by drinking every day; emus do not waste water: for normal breathing in cooler weather, they have large, multi-folded nasal passages. Cool air warms as it passes through into the lungs, extracting heat from the nasal region. On exhalation, the Emu's cold nasal turbinates condense moisture back out of the air and absorb it for reuse.

Reproduction

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Emus form breeding pairs during the summer months between December and January and may remain together for about 5 months. Mating takes place in the cooler months between May and June. This varies in tropical Australia where the seasons are reversed and it rains in summer, mating starts just before "the wet", and emus are reliably reported to delay mating if the season is late. The mechanism for this remains unknown. During the breeding season, males experience hormonal changes including an increase in luteinizing hormone and testosterone levels and their testes double in size.Malecki I. A. et al. 1998. Endocrine and testicular changes in a short-day seasonally breeding bird, the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), in southwestern Australia. Animal Reproduction Sciences 53:143-155 PMID 9835373 Males lose their of appetite and construct a rough nest in a semi-sheltered hollow on the ground from bark, grass, sticks and leaves. The pair mate every day or two and, every second or third day, the female lays. On average she will lay 11 very large, thick-shelled dark green eggs, but as many as 20 may be laid. The eggs are on average 134 mm x 89 mm and weight between 700 and 900 grams,Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds. 1976. Reader's Digest Services ISBN 0909486638 which is roughly equivalent to 10 chickens eggs. The first demonstrated occurrence of genetically identical avian twins was demonstrated in the Emu.Bassett, S. M. et al. 1999. Genetically identical avian twins. Journal of Zoology 247: 475-478

The male becomes broody after his mate starts laying and begins to incubate the eggs before the female completes laying. From this time on, he does not eat, drink or defecate, and only stands to turn the eggs, which he does about 10 times a day. For the next eight weeks, he will survive on acquired fat and any morning dew he can reach from the nest, losing one third of his weight. The female usually goes on laying but does not mate with the male again after he gets tired. As with many other Australian birds like the Superb Fairy-wren, despite the nominal pair-bond, infidelity is the norm: once the male starts brooding, the female mates with other males and may lay in multiple clutches, as many as half the chicks in the brood may be fathered by others, or by neither parent as Emus also exhibit brood parasitism.Taylor, E. L. et al. 2000. Genetic evidence for mixed parentage in nests of the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 47:359-364 Some females stay and defend the nest until the chicks start hatching but most leave the nesting area completely after a time and often nest again—in a good season a female Emu may nest three times. Despite the determined attention of the male, Emu eggs are heavily predated, particularly by goannas, but it is estimated that four out of five chicks that hatch successfully survive to adulthood.

Incubation takes 56 days, the male stops incubating the eggs shortly before they hatch.Davies, S. J. J. F. 1976. The natural history of the emu in comparison with that of other ratites. In Proceedings of the 16th international ornothological congress, H.J. Firth and J. H. Calaby eds. Australian Academy of Science p 109-120 ISBN 0858470381 Newly hatched chicks are active and can leave the nest within a few days. They stand about 25 centimetres tall and have distinctive brown and cream stripes for camouflage, which fade after three months or so. The male stays with the growing chicks for up to 18 months defending them and teaching them how to find food. Chicks grow very quickly and are full-grown in 12 to 14 months; they may remain with their family group for another six months or so before they split up to breed in their second season. In the wild, emus live for about 10 years; captive birds can more than double that.

Ecology and behaviour

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Emus live in most habitats across Australian, they are most common in areas of sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland and least common in populated and very arid areas. Emus are largely solitary creatures; they roam the continent searching for the best feeding areas, and although they can form enormous flocks, this is not a truly social behaviour, simply a matter of going where the food is. Emus In Western Australia, Emu movements follow a distinct seasonal pattern—north in summer and south in winter—but further east their wanderings are more random. Emus are also powerful swimmers capable of crossing rivers— something they need to do from time to time as part of their wandering.

Their calls consist of loud booming, drumming and grunting sounds that can be heard up to 2 kilometers away. The booming sound is created in an inflatable neck sac.

Emus forage in a diurnal pattern. Emus eat a variety of native and introduced plant species, the type of plants eaten depends of seasonal availability. They also eat insects, including grasshoppers and crickets, ladybirds, soldier and saltbush caterpillars, Bogong and cotton-boll moth larvae and ants.Barker, R. D. and Vertjens, W. J. M. The Food of Australian Birds 1 Non-Passerines. CSIRO Australia ISBN 0643050078 In Western Australia food preferences have been observed, in they eat seeds from Acacia aneura until it rains, after which they new grass and caterpillars, in winter they feed on leaves on Cassia pods, grasshoppers and quandong fruit in the spring. Emus may also serve as an important agent for the dispersal of large viable seeds.McGrath, R. J. and Bass, D. 1999. Seed dispersal by Emus on the New South Wales north-east coast. EMU 99: 248-252

Conservation status

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Emus were used as a source of food by Indigenous Australians and early European settlers. Aborigines used a variety of techniques to catch the bird including spearing them while they drank at waterholes, poisoning waterholes used by Emus, catching them in nets or attracting them by imitating their calls or with a ball of feathers and rags dangled from a tree. Europeans killed and ate Emu, and killed birds that interfered with farming or invaded settlements during drought periods looking for water. An extreme example of this is the Emu War which occured in Western Australian in 1932 when Emus that flocked to Campion during a hot summer were killed en masse over the course of a week. In John Gould's Handbook to the Birds of Australia first published in 1865, he laments the loss of the Emu from Tasmania where it had become rare and has since become extinct, he also notes that Emus were no longer common in the vicinity of Sydney and asks that protection be afforded to the species. Wild Emus are formally protected in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Although the population of Emu on mainland Ausrtlia is thought to be higher now that it was prior to European settlement, some wild populations of Emu are at risk of local extinction due to small population size. Threats to small populations include, clearing and fragmentation of areas of habitat, deliberate killing, predation of young and eggs by foxes, feral and domestic dogs and feral pigs and being hit by vehicles. Currently the isolated Emu population of the New South Wales North Coast Bioregion and Port Stephens is listed as endangered by the New South Wales Government.Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) Emu population in the NSW North Coast Bioregion and Port Stephens LGA - profile

Emu farming and products

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Commercial emu farming started in Western Australia in 1987 and the first slaughtering occurred in 1990.O'Malley, P. 1997. Emu Farming in The New Rural Industries. Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation In Australia the commercial industry is based on captively-bred stock and all States, with the exception of Tasmania, have licensing requirements to protect wild emus. Outside Australia, Emu are farmed on a large scale in North America with about 1 million birds in the United States,USDA. Ratites (Emu, Ostrich, and Rhea) Peru and China, and to a lesser extent in some other countries. Emus breed well in captivity, they are kept in large open pens since thay must exercise to avoid leg and digestive problems. They are typically fed on grain supplemented by pasture and are slaughtered at 50-70 weeks of age.

Emus are farmed primarily for their meat, leather and oil. Emu meat is a low-fat, low-cholesterol (85 mg/100 g) meat which despite being from a bird, is considered a red meat since the meat has a red colour and has a pH similar to that of red meat.USDA. 2005. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18 Emu, full rump, raw The best cuts come from the thigh and the larger muscles of the drum or lower leg. The emu body-skin is characterised by a raised area around the feather follicle which produces a distinctive patterned surface in the leather. Emu leather is used in wallets, shoes and other small items, often in combination with other leathers. Emu fat is rendered to produce oil which is used in cosmetics, dietary supplements and therapeutic products. There is some evidence that the oil has anti-inflammatory properties,Yoganathan, S. et al. 2003. Antagonism of croton oil inflammation by topical emu oil in CD-1 mice. Lipids 38:603-7. PMID 12934669 however the United States Food and Drug Administration regards pure emu oil product as an unapproved drug. The feathers and eggs also have some uses, mostly for decorative arts and crafts.

Cultural references

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The Emu has a prominent place in Australian Aboriginal mythology, including a creation myth of the Yuwaalaraay and other groups in New South Wales who say that the sun was made by throwing an Emu's egg into the sky; the bird also features in numerous aetiological stories from different groups.Dixon, R. B. 1916. Oceanic Mythology Part V. Australia

The Emu is popularly but unofficially considered a faunal emblem, the national bird of Australia.Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australia's Coat of Arms It appears prominently on the Coat of Arms of Australia and thus incidentally the Australian 50 cent coin. It has also featured on numerous Australian postage stamps, including a pre-federation New South Wales 100th Anniversary issue from 1888 which featured a 2d blue Emu stamp, a 36 cent stamp released in 1986 and a $1.35 stamp released in 1994. The hats of the Australian Light Horse were famously decorated with an Emu feather plume.

613 gazetteed places in Australia including mountains, lakes, creeks and towns are named for the Emu.Geoscience Australia. 2004. Gazetteer of Australia During the 19th and 20th century in Australia many companies and household products were named for the bird for example Swan Brewery in Western Australia produces a range of beers including Emu Bitter, Emu Export and Emu Draft and Emu - Austral Ornithology the quarterly peer-reviewed publication of the organisation Birds Australia is named after the species. The children's picture books Edward The Emu and Edwina the Emu by Sheena Knowles follow the fictional lives of a Emu and his family.

The British entertainer Rod Hull was well known for his puppet "Emu", regularly appearing on television with the bird.

See also

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• Fauna of Australia
• Birds of Australia

References

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External links

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• Emu videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Emu chicks emerging, article with sound clips, photos and videos.
• "Kangaroo feathers" and the Australian Light Horse from the Australian War Memorial

Birds of Australia | Dromaius | Flightless birds | Heraldic birds | Ratites

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