Can Emus Get Lonely?

[briefvisit]

Misapprehension, Chooks! The inverted commas mark the quotation I lifted from your post. The politics in question is that concerning farmers going broke in slow motion because three species of cockies ravish their crops. (red- and white-tailed black and Muir's Corella)

 

[chooks4life]

Misapprehension, Chooks! The inverted commas mark the quotation I lifted from your post. The politics in question is that concerning farmers going broke in slow motion because three species of cockies ravish their crops. (red- and white-tailed black and Muir's Corella)

Ah yeah, thanks for clarifying, I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

 

[hen house girl]

Does anyone know if emus can see at night? Also I live in Canada and it gets cold here with snow, my emu never seems to voluntarily go into her house to keep warm any suggestions? TIA

 

[Steampunked]

I'm not sure about at night, though I know they have very good hearing, which might compensate. I think all ratites have good daysight?

Emus tolerate snow relatively well as their feathers provide high levels of insulation, and they are common in Australian highlands where snow falls in winter. They're very adaptable, I think there are subspecies which prefer the desert climes and some species prefer the colder highlands.

However, our weather is never as cold as Canada or America, so if it's particularly deep it could be a worry.

 

[smokeyjoe]

OK yes emu do get lonely like everyone else has said , however a friend took in a emu that was raised all alone she bonded with her owners and she would not have anything with there emu that they had already had so they had to separate them ,she just wanted them to come out to her and she just sat there with her neck lien over there shoulder , however after a year she started excepting the other emu, but still preferred people ,she would lay eggs really good but they were not fertile .

 

[briefvisit]

as fast as i can tyhpe
emus can see at night but aren't nocturnal
immelman wrote a paper claiming they eat and drink and roam at night but he was wrong
if that was the case emus would be seen grazing on full moon nights
they sleep fitfully
females sometimes call a dozen tkmes a night
i listen in season
they aren't moving about -- sometimes i know the bird i am listening to, she is only one hundred meters from the house
if attacked at night i guess they would run in panic

on moonlit nights here i sometimes see forty or fifty kangaroos quietly grazing in the light.

se

 

[smokeyjoe]

I love the way you describe where you live , it must be nice to live where you can see these wonderful birds and Kangaroos in the wild, I don't have that opportunity . all my experience's comes from hands on raising Emu from babies for the past 18 to 20 year , I think they are such wonderful birds , my emu do eat at night out of there feeder and can see somewhat like I said it seems to me they are seeing block images instead of like daytime because I can walk into there pen and they will get upset and run at me as if to attack me until I talk to them then they calm down and I can pet them, that is why I think they can see BLOCK images , they are really smart ,my son used to put his tent in there pen and camp out in there . so we learned a lot from them . now I am sure in the wild they may seem different , which I would love to know the difference . but you are right at night they drum and call for the rest of the birds . when they hear something , I believe they see more at my house because I have a street light and they seem to want to sleep on the side where there is more light , if it wasn't for the light I do not believe they would be able to eat out of there feeder .

 

[chooks4life]

I've lived around wild emus before and have seen them active at night as well, but who's to say they weren't active just because of being disturbed? Personally I'm on the fence as to whether or not they might graze at night, because even if a species is diurnal in some part of its ranges, it's not uncommon to find they will adapt to be nocturnal in other areas, or vice versa, often due to human pressures or predator pressures. I can imagine adapting to nocturnal grazing would benefit crop-thiefs, lol.

Best wishes.

 

[briefvisit]

Hey, Chooks! Okay, it's a great datum! I worked hard on this one -- Immelman made his observations in a European zoo, which -- for an academic based in W.A. -- is flat-out sloppy. Of course we don't count disturbed birds bolting (likely disturbed by farmers spotlighting for roos to shoot)

What I am sure of is: one: I have often seen 'my' birds emerge at dawn from the spot they retired to at dusk, but Two: have never seen an emu grazing at night. And the locals I asked said no: I asked them because if they move at night, they would be hit at night by cars -- as many 'roos are.

Smokey Joe: you can 'visit me' at Mating season in australia and planet rothschildi. But are you an old timer? do you remember those threads.

In late winter, I have lain in bed, with the windows open, freezing my nose off, to listen to the 'conversations' between the tame-wild female in residence and wild males. We made territory maps of surrounding birds by 'audits' only. Great fun! To leave the farmhouse at four in the morning, wearing ten jumpers, to move through tracks in the bush, to audit the calls of nearby roosting females.

Just can't do it anymore. Che sera.
The new chick has started coming into the backyard with his dad, to score plums.

SE

 

[chooks4life]

Hey, Chooks! Okay, it's a great datum! I worked hard on this one -- Immelman made his observations in a European zoo, which -- for an academic based in W.A. -- is flat-out sloppy. Of course we don't count disturbed birds bolting (likely disturbed by farmers spotlighting for roos to shoot)

lol, that is indeed very sloppy.

What I am sure of is: one: I have often seen 'my' birds emerge at dawn from the spot they retired to at dusk, but Two: have never seen an emu grazing at night. And the locals I asked said no: I asked them because if they move at night, they would be hit at night by cars -- as many 'roos are.

I've seen them around dusk and dawn but don't think I've seen them active at night, to the best of my recollection. But most animals will get up to some shenanigans at night time for whatever reason; in this case possibly the emus found the crowds at the zoo distressing so made the most of the night time. I've had a few chooks and other animals that would eat at night instead, often when stressed or unwell. I don't think chooks overall can see in the dark but that said I think one of my hens could, she could navigate an obstacle filled yard with perfect ease at top speed during the blackest nights.

Best wishes.