- Nov 9, 2013
- 1,368
- 1,459
- 291
This morning I saw the best (dawn) Spazzy Dance I’ve ever seen:
it was v. early. And in my experience, almost all such dances happen in literally the first seconds after the birds emerge from their roosts.
I saw the two young males emerge from down behind the fig tree. And as soon as I saw one do the ‘classic’ breast-to-ground-jump-up move, I guessed they’d dance.
And they went completely doolally for about thirty seconds. The ‘moves’ are classic:
Breast-to-ground-jump-up. Often facing one another. I think there’s a tendency to spazzy dance in pairs, with the chicks or adults doing the btgju while facing each other. I certainly recall the chicks Alpha and Omega frequently doing this.
Jump-and-kick-at-the-moon. Much less common. The emu will leap well off the ground; roll its body in mid-air; and kick one leg wildly out and up.
Plumage-flaring: gotta learn more about this one. But they did it this morning.
Pirouetting: wild whirly twirls are also classic.
Vocalisation: again, this one is new to me.
Rolling over: I've seen this one more on Youtube than here, but it is a part of a spazzy dance: the emu will go breast-to-ground, and then roll wildly over, and jump back up.
Running: U.S. folks might not realise how integral running is to spazzy dances – but if you watch a bunch of Youtube videos, you’ll see emus running around their pens during their dances. Well, given more space, it’s not uncommon for emus to cover up to, say, 600 yards doing their dances. Usually, they begin the dance ‘in place,’ then burst wildly into full tilt runs, usually in pairs, and with that crazy body-tilts-to-the-side changes of direction that we see at other times. The runs also include the craziest changes of direction.
So lucky me: this morning, at first light, coffee in hand, I was witness to two adult birds jumping, calling, whirling, flaring, down-and-upping, running, having a wow of a time.
it was v. early. And in my experience, almost all such dances happen in literally the first seconds after the birds emerge from their roosts.
I saw the two young males emerge from down behind the fig tree. And as soon as I saw one do the ‘classic’ breast-to-ground-jump-up move, I guessed they’d dance.
And they went completely doolally for about thirty seconds. The ‘moves’ are classic:
Breast-to-ground-jump-up. Often facing one another. I think there’s a tendency to spazzy dance in pairs, with the chicks or adults doing the btgju while facing each other. I certainly recall the chicks Alpha and Omega frequently doing this.
Jump-and-kick-at-the-moon. Much less common. The emu will leap well off the ground; roll its body in mid-air; and kick one leg wildly out and up.
Plumage-flaring: gotta learn more about this one. But they did it this morning.
Pirouetting: wild whirly twirls are also classic.
Vocalisation: again, this one is new to me.
Rolling over: I've seen this one more on Youtube than here, but it is a part of a spazzy dance: the emu will go breast-to-ground, and then roll wildly over, and jump back up.
Running: U.S. folks might not realise how integral running is to spazzy dances – but if you watch a bunch of Youtube videos, you’ll see emus running around their pens during their dances. Well, given more space, it’s not uncommon for emus to cover up to, say, 600 yards doing their dances. Usually, they begin the dance ‘in place,’ then burst wildly into full tilt runs, usually in pairs, and with that crazy body-tilts-to-the-side changes of direction that we see at other times. The runs also include the craziest changes of direction.
So lucky me: this morning, at first light, coffee in hand, I was witness to two adult birds jumping, calling, whirling, flaring, down-and-upping, running, having a wow of a time.
Thank you for that amazing description! I'm truly envious. There's not many things better in life than to be able to witness something like that with a cup of coffee in hand. I'm going to make a point to use doolally more in conversation 
wonder if I can get a bundle deal on emu AND chicken tv...
