Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[Evadig]

why is the Double-Wattled Cassowary found in both Australia and New Guinea?

Well, I had to look up what a Double-Wattled Cassowary was. I didn't remember reading about it. It looks somewhat like a magnified Guinea.

What kind of animal is in the picture? It looks like some species of wallaby.

Were Australia and New Guinea once connected, so the Cassowary lived in both places already?

 

[briefvisit]

'Wallaby' is an excellent guess. You can win beers in bars by betting people that not all kangaroo species live in Australia. About a quarter -- the 'arboreal' kangaroos -- are native to New Guinea.

 

[briefvisit]

GB Emu was vocalising during the night.

https://imgur.com/Sd2uXoS

She has a sort of almost 'mohawk' of feathers down from her head. So that's an identifier. Won't eat from my hand, but comes quite close.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Gee. So long since daily notes!



GB Emu’s vocalisations are quite recognizable. Recognising her early-morning calls is not hard. She also talks to herself while she eats.



She was here at dawn with another bird. Are they a pair? We’ll find out. The other bird zipped into the gums when I appeared, but GB and this bird – might be male – talked to and fro a little.



And the season? So, lilly pillies are finished. Tiny flowers are bursting up everywhere. But it’ll be a good while before serious amounts of flowers are available.



SE

 

[Finnie]

It’s nice to see you posting your observations again! How is your eyesight doing these days?

 

[briefvisit]

It’s nice to see you posting your observations again! How is your eyesight doing these days?

Thank you for asking. I'm still as blind as a bat, but there are lots of sneaky techniques.

I can't be in direct light, but I can back a chair up into the lilly pilly or the fig tree -- especially on cool moist mornings -- and watch.

The video whatsit on my little Ipad has a magnification function. I can cheat with that.

Luckily, though -- even though we are learning new things all the time -- the 'framework' of Emoo Life is so familiar that things can be figured out.

Suppose you see GB Emu standing stock still doing 'eagle eyes' in some direction, off into the bush. You nip in and get a stool. Find a shady spot. And wait.

Then you are likely to get a good observation of a home-team bird taking issue with some foreign bird that is vocalising, or appears and skirts the house-clearing.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

'even though we are learning new things all the time'


Actually, I was wondering the other day that it took us fourteen years to understand that clutches of chicks may stay together for months and months after Dad sends them on their way.



In the summer of their second year, a clutch of chicks has been independent since the preceding autumn – when Dad threw his hat in the mating ring again. But in size they can only be distinguished from older birds by literally a few centimetres and a few pounds.They still have telltale juvenile feathers, but you can't see those from any distance at all!!



It was just wildest luck that a bunch of such chicks – in two clutches – happened to hang out here for a week or so, allowing us to figure it out.



So how many times in the past have we watched a clutch of three or four adolescent emus from a distance, and not had any idea they were a clutch?



SE

 

[briefvisit]

So, what you might do is begin cross-referencing. These chicks are cassowary chicks, but they are remarkably similar to emu chicks.

The smaller ones got the stripes. Got the lack of tail feathers. Got the 100%-all-in-with-Dad style of movement.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Three emus here this afternoon – but first a note about GB Emu. It is just nine months since she lost the last of her baby feathers. This is her third year, her ‘trial year’ as a female.



And this afternoon, GB was here with a male. The male ran off upon seeing me. Then, while GB was enjoying her bit of wheat, the two talked back and forth. GB has odd vocalisations.



Then a more-usual sounding female turned up. She came right into the house-clearing, and drove GB off the wheat.



Here is the video:

https://imgur.com/0SczcI8

 

[briefvisit]

Two females vocalising in the wee hours. One was surely GB -- her distinctive calls. The other was likely Wild Female.

And spring is here with a vengeance! So we have some emus disputing a pasture that will shortly be a rich food source. GB Emu has been coming and going. Perhaps as interested in figuring out the mating thing as in fighting for pasture.

SE