Emu

The feathers of the body are brown to grey-brown with black shafts and tips. They are hair-like and loose, bouncing as the bird runs, and giving the plumage an untidy or floppy appearance. They are unique as being the only feather in the world with two feathers coming from a single quill. The feathers of the head are lack and curly, The neck feathers are blackish, females having a white ruff during the breeding season. The bare skin on the neck is blue to whitish.

Emus are fast runners. They are extremely well adapted to semi-arid conditions, and may wander large distances in response to seasonal conditions. They are usually silent but can communicate by loud booming, drumming and grunting sounds that can be heard up to two kilometers away.

Breeding season is the southern summer. During December/January the emus will form breeding pairs, which may remain together for about five months. The male builds a rough nest from bark, grass, sticks and leaves. In the wild, a female will lay between 10 and 20 dark green eggs at intervals of 2-3 days. Farmed emus may produce as many as 25 - 40 eggs per season. The eggs are incubated by the male alone, which will not eat and drink while breeding.

The downy chicks will normally hatch after 48 - 52 days. At hatching, they stand about 25 cm tall and have a longitudinally striped plumage which is gradually replaced by a dark grey-brown juvenile plumage. After 4-5 months the stripes are no longer visible.

Emus are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of plant material, insects and other small animals.