The Life of Animals | Cassowary | The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the Southern Cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.
Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting serious injuries to dogs and people.The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north Queensland rain forests is not well understood.Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft) tall, although some females may reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) and weigh 58.5 kilograms (129 lb)
All cassowaries have feathers that consist of a shaft and loose barbules. Cassowaries have small wings with 5-6 large remeges. A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that is 125 millimetres (5 in) long This claw is particularly fearsome since cassowaries sometimes kick humans and animals with their enormously powerful legs (see Cassowary Attacks, below). Cassowaries can run up to 50 km/h (31 mph) through the dense forest.
The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions From an engineering perspective the wedge shaped casque is also the most efficient way to protect the head by deflecting falling fruit. Mack and Jones also speculate that the casques play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to their discovery that at least the Dwarf Cassowary and Southern Cassowary produce very-low frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest This "boom" is the lowest known bird call, and is on the edge of human hearing
The average lifespan of wild cassowaries is believed to be about 40 to 50 years.Females lay three to eight large, dark bright green or pale green-blue eggs in each clutch into a prepared heap of leaf litter These eggs measure about 9 by 14 centimetres (3.5 by 5.5 in) — only Ostrich and Emu eggs are larger. The young males then go off to find a territory of their own"Young cassowaries are brown and have buffy stripes. Mature cassowaries are placed beside native houses in cribs hardly larger than the birds themselves. Caged birds are regularly bereft of their fresh plumes
Cassowaries are native to the humid rainforests of New Guinea and nearby smaller islands, and northeastern Australia They will, however, venture out into palm scrub, grassland, savanna, and swamp forest It is unclear if some islands' populations are natural or the result of trade in young birds by natives. A 2003 study of attacks by the Southern Cassowary in Queensland found no wounds larger than punctures about 1.5 cm in diameter Of 221 attacks studied, 150 were against humans. 75% of these were from cassowaries that had been fed by people. 71% of the time the bird chased or charged the victim. 15% of the time they kicked. Of the attacks, 73% involved the birds expecting or snatching food, 5% involved defending natural food sources, 15% involved defending themselves from attack, 7% involved defending their chicks or eggs. The one documented human death caused by a cassowary was on 6 April 1926. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away as his older brother struck the bird. The cassowary then charged and knocked the older McClean to the ground and kicked him in the neck, opening a 1.25 cm (0.49 in) wound.
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