Emu opinions

[Cbell1]

Hey guys, I’m wondering if anyone is able to offer their thoughts on whether this emu is male or female and what sort of age it could be? We acquired him from somewhere that wasn’t looking after the emu correctly. Thanks

 

[briefvisit]

Telling the sex of an emu, Cbell, is hard if it doesn’t vocalise – and it is less likely to vocalise if it doesn’t have other emus in its environment.

Likewise – I’m not being very helpful, am I! – telling their age, after they gain their adult plumage, is, to my knowledge, not possible.



So, vocalisations: please begin observing Emoo, and tell us if she/he makes any noises. And if so, can you describe those noises?



And does Emoo have a sort of ‘bump’ on her/his chest when making one type of noise? If so, that’s a vocal sack, and Emoo is female.



Does Emoo vocalise at night? Particularly in the early a.m.? Does Emoo emit ‘strings’ of vocalisations? If so, almost certainly female.



Welcome to BYC.



PS Quite a nice-looking bird.



Supreme Emu, Lake Muir, Western Australia

 

[FNF]

You can send blood or feathers away to a lab to get the sex of the bird. I did it with my emus chicks so it was easy, but if you are able to get feathers you should be able to find out (assuming no vocalizations as mentioned already).