- Nov 9, 2013
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The four emus in this photo are rothschildis -- south-west Western Australia
They are a season short of full grown: about five feet tall. We know them. They are four of the nine chicks in Eric's clutch when he was (we presume) killed.
Eight chicks remained as orphans. Then over the following year, all but two became independent, and went bush.
Two only have remained most of the time.
But this afternoon two of the clutch hove into the house-clearing. So what's special here? Well, it's likely that this is the last time we'll see these chicks together as a group; and they are the last of Eric's chicks. So this is sad sad for me. The end of an era. One chick is identifiable. But by next Spring, this last clutch of Eric's -- the fifth in ten years, all pictured here on BYC -- will have melted into the bush.
Note on Distinguishing Emus
It's a poor photo, but you can practise your skills: when you observe wild birds, you gotta get real real good at picking the little differences. So, first, you have a really really good look at the photo, then pop back here.
See the lighter colour of the legs of two? That's mud. From a datum like this, you might know which dam the two drank at. The two are the homebody pair.
Do you see that all four have rather outsized tooshes? That's the very very last sign of their chick-ness. (At first, chicks got no toosh. At a year and a half, they're all toosh.)
The standing one looking left, and the sitting one looking right. You can juuuuust see a difference in the pattern of feathers on their necks. The variation of colours and presence of neck feathers is one of the most distinctive features an emu has. The 'truly classic look' -- you can check photos on the Net to get the hang of this -- is a clear patch on the upper neck, with a shiny blue colour to the visible skin. Conversely, Felicity's consort, 'Groestl,' is identifiable because he has a sort of 'sock' of lovely black feathers right up his neck. So have another look at the photo. You can juuuust see that one of the chicks has that clear patch on the upper neck and around the ear, but the other has feathers there. If you were observing these birds through binos at fifty or even sixty yards, you should be able to pick things like this.
And if you look really hard, you can that the chick on the right is a little heavier than the one on the left. Interestingly, the two chicks in from the bush are bigger than the two who've stayed here. Indeed, the two bush chicks are really fine specimens: big, sassy, good carriage, good plumage.
Finally, dig what you're seeing here, readers. These chicks know me -- one will eat from my hand -- so that tameness allows us to get close to them. Otherwise, these young birds are quite wild, moving over perhaps a fifty-mile-square territory, but accessible to us because the house-clearing here is a known quantity to them, and they are passing through on their travels.
They are a season short of full grown: about five feet tall. We know them. They are four of the nine chicks in Eric's clutch when he was (we presume) killed.
Eight chicks remained as orphans. Then over the following year, all but two became independent, and went bush.
Two only have remained most of the time.
But this afternoon two of the clutch hove into the house-clearing. So what's special here? Well, it's likely that this is the last time we'll see these chicks together as a group; and they are the last of Eric's chicks. So this is sad sad for me. The end of an era. One chick is identifiable. But by next Spring, this last clutch of Eric's -- the fifth in ten years, all pictured here on BYC -- will have melted into the bush.
Note on Distinguishing Emus
It's a poor photo, but you can practise your skills: when you observe wild birds, you gotta get real real good at picking the little differences. So, first, you have a really really good look at the photo, then pop back here.
See the lighter colour of the legs of two? That's mud. From a datum like this, you might know which dam the two drank at. The two are the homebody pair.
Do you see that all four have rather outsized tooshes? That's the very very last sign of their chick-ness. (At first, chicks got no toosh. At a year and a half, they're all toosh.)
The standing one looking left, and the sitting one looking right. You can juuuuust see a difference in the pattern of feathers on their necks. The variation of colours and presence of neck feathers is one of the most distinctive features an emu has. The 'truly classic look' -- you can check photos on the Net to get the hang of this -- is a clear patch on the upper neck, with a shiny blue colour to the visible skin. Conversely, Felicity's consort, 'Groestl,' is identifiable because he has a sort of 'sock' of lovely black feathers right up his neck. So have another look at the photo. You can juuuust see that one of the chicks has that clear patch on the upper neck and around the ear, but the other has feathers there. If you were observing these birds through binos at fifty or even sixty yards, you should be able to pick things like this.
And if you look really hard, you can that the chick on the right is a little heavier than the one on the left. Interestingly, the two chicks in from the bush are bigger than the two who've stayed here. Indeed, the two bush chicks are really fine specimens: big, sassy, good carriage, good plumage.
Finally, dig what you're seeing here, readers. These chicks know me -- one will eat from my hand -- so that tameness allows us to get close to them. Otherwise, these young birds are quite wild, moving over perhaps a fifty-mile-square territory, but accessible to us because the house-clearing here is a known quantity to them, and they are passing through on their travels.
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