We pressured Brash Boy by putting the wheat down close to the garden. He is getting tamer each day.
He and U.E. turned up together in the late afternoon – we happened to be in the garden.
Their interactions are following the usual course of a consort getting a ‘try out’ here at the...
Undersized Emu and Brash Boy command the house-clearing this morning – because Limpy Chick and Co. are not here.
Saw a mustang a minute ago.
B.B. vocalizes enthusiastically. Here he is from yesterday:
First: it's the other way around. Emus are a gynocentric species: the females do the choosing.
We don’t know Undersized Emu’s age, but she has filled out, and is now a fine-looking female.
She has no leverage at all with Limpy Chick and co. (though she insists on foomphing at them -- ??!!)...
Oh -- Undersized Emu.
Dawn 17/2. Brash Boy here for the fourth morning. L.C. and the chicks have had brekkie and left. Just put U.E.'s wheat out. Will check in a minute to see if B.B. arrives.
Edit: they're having brekkie together.
On earlier sightings, Dad plus five has bolted. Indeed, we haven’t had a good look at them until today. It may be that the presence of the other emus was again the ‘leveraging’ that benefits us so nicely:
Brash Boy was vocalising just metres back in the scrub at this point.
Edit: you can see...
But although we could see him through the leaves, he didn’t approach. Then U.E. vocalized and drifted off. This was puzzling until we realized that Limpy Chick and Co. had descended on the wheat. U.E. and B.B. had both exited stage left.
So we popped out from under the lilly pilly tree, only to...
Next: we snuck inside; and around; and got in under the lilly pilly tree. It was fast and clumsy; but Brash Boy was already sneaking back after having bolted:
First time in years: live reporting
Brash Boy announced himself. Readers see how we ‘leverage’ the tameness of Undersized Emu: Brash Boy is far more willing to approach the house because U.E. had some nice wheat:
Good morning, Finchbreeder. Oh, I like this!
The numbers of 'sandy' birds we've seen fits your prediction.
There are occasional 'sorta sandy' birds.
But the last remarkably sandy emu was a chick (over at Spring Valley) perhaps 12 years ago.
Is Brash Boy 'outside the envelope'? I don't think so, Antique.
We gotta observe him further. Maybe the light is part of it. We have seen a couple of equally 'sandy' emus over the years -- and 'sandy' is the phrase we've used.
But his 'ruff' is amazing.
SE
Deep breath. First, historical species:
Were six. Now three – three extinct. We have in the past discussed whether Emu Americanus is a sorta fourth. That is, no one in the USA knows what sub-species their emus are.
The emoo is dromaius novaehollandiae.
The sub-species are dromaius...
It is again that time of year – late summer/early autumn – for mating-pairs to form.
Brash Boy was here last evening. His call is recognizable.
Here is a photo from his first day here (I overlooked it):
We've never seen a 'puff-up' as white as this.
So, we’ve had Limpy Chick and Co. each dawn and dusk.
We’ve had U.E. able to bully some random wild female, which is gratifying for her.
Then we had ‘the posse,’ but they’ve drifted away.
Then Dad and his lone chick cruised through yesterday.
Then the brash sandy male turned up shortly...
Here is the posse that visited Undersized Emu a few days ago.
And look at the two birds on the left. See the minor distinctions in their feathers on upper neck? That's a way of telling emus apart.
I am sorry for the fuzzy post. Will check my camera.
But here is this amazing male -- who quietly drove U.E. off her wheat this morning -- just minutes after he turned up
Some catch-up: Undersized Emu didn’t ‘click’ with her potential consort – I forgot to post. Sorry.
But today we have an amazing ‘sandy’ male here. We’ve never seen such a sandy bird.
This Dad and his clutch of one passed through the house-clearing today. That’s four Dad-with-clutch that we’ve seen, including Limpy Chick and Co., that we’ve seen this season.