Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[briefvisit]

I'll get you to refine that question, evadig. Territory for breeding? In captivity?

SE

 

[Evadig]

I'll get you to refine that question, evadig. Territory for breeding? In captivity?

SE

I meant in the wild. Like you said GB and Consort are trying to secure territory…how much do they need/want?

 

[briefvisit]

Dawn: male to the north west. Female off to the south east.



GB was on stage first. Consort joined her for their wheat. The clip shows a foreign emu skirting the house-clearing:

https://imgur.com/tqhYYvt

GB and C had their brekkie, then went to drive off the interlopers. So, no incursions on their turf this morning. They were able to 'maintain their perimeter.' Then they wandered off for the morning.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

'I meant in the wild. Like you said GB and Consort are trying to secure territory…how much do they need/want?'

Nice question!



We can discuss The Bigger Picture later; but right now:



By late autumn, a breeding-pair should be fighting off opposition on a chosen pasture, as they prepare to breed. (We have great data on this.)



By the first days of winter, Evadig, the pair’s world has shrunk further: half that pasture (and she commands it, ideally, against all comers).



Then the pair have adorable little trysts in the gums just off the clearing – literally 30-40 yards. This will be the site of the nest.



About a week into winter, the mating begins. Then the egg-laying.



Their world gets smaller still – watching this with Felicity and Noddy Big Ears (though I was seriously ill) was just amazing. Both partners eat and eat just adjacent to where the nest will be.



Then one morning, the male fails to show on the pasture: he is sitting on the eggs. (Ya gotta sneak about to find him.)



SE

 

[briefvisit]

Let’s bung this up before I have a technology-induced mental breakdown. If emus don’t interest you, this clip means nothing – a coupla emus walking past.

But if they do, it’s a perfect shot – at dusk, out the window of the front bedroom – of GB Emu holding a foreign pair at bay. First you see walk past GB. Then, a little further out – right on the edge of the clearing – the foreign bird, surely the female.

Then you see, behind her and a little further out still, the second wild emu trailing the first. (You see that third bird twice: first back in the gums, then crossing the track.)

https://imgur.com/AGJV98q

https://imgur.com/AGJV98q

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/Up7vCRV

Here is the shot preceding that. The foreign pair mounted their incursion on the north-west corner of the clearing, with GB and Consort holding them off without outright conflict. They all stopped by the garden, which is what you see in the clip.

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/9JCwi11

 

[briefvisit]

Old Guy been ill: a hard winter.



Will try to get some Updates to you soon. The big nooz is that a tame-wild bird has appeared – a bird that grew up here. We are 80% sure it is Limpy Chick. In which case, she’s been gone several years; but she walked up and ate sultanas from my hand, and I patted her neck feathers.



GB Emu and Consort are still here. Consort is funny. Sometimes he comes quite close to me. Other times he still charges wildly about the place at the sight of me.



SE

 

[Evadig]

Old Guy been ill: a hard winter.



Will try to get some Updates to you soon. The big nooz is that a tame-wild bird has appeared – a bird that grew up here. We are 80% sure it is Limpy Chick. In which case, she’s been gone several years; but she walked up and ate sultanas from my hand, and I patted her neck feathers.



GB Emu and Consort are still here. Consort is funny. Sometimes he comes quite close to me. Other times he still charges wildly about the place at the sight of me.



SE

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[AntiqueB]

Yes, get better soon! Your stories and observations are fascinating.

How long do wild emus usually live for?