Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[AntiqueB]

Hope all is well with you!

Aren't there any emu specialists or academics who would value long-term observations?

I can't believe the Cheeky Chicks are still together. Does the plumage signal maturity?

Could the male you heard be Limpy Chick?

Do horses and emus not get along? Seems strange; neither is a predator.

 

[briefvisit]

'Aren't there any emu specialists or academics who would value long-term observations?'

Academia doesn't work this way, Antique. No expert likes to have someone equally expert just wander in off the street. Although we did contribute some years ago to a project over east, in which conservationists were DNA-typing Australian emus. I sent some feathers, which provided DNA of the emus in this district.

 

[briefvisit]

'Could the male you heard be Limpy Chick?'

One: we have an update on that.

Two: no. Limpy Chick's task is to sit still and quiet, which reduces the risk from predators.

 

[briefvisit]

'Do horses and emus not get along? Seems strange; neither is a predator.'

The emus are scared stiff of the horses, and run like billyo on sighting them.

The horses couldn't care less.

 

[briefvisit]

'I can't believe the Cheeky Chicks are still together. Does the plumage signal maturity?'

We are still learning about the Cheeky Chicks. Remember that this is the first ever real observation of a second-year clutch.

Plumage? An emu has adult plumage by autumn of its second year. The Cheeky Chicks -- three of them, anyway -- still look a little scrawny; but their plumage, tails and all, is adult.

The last to go are the black pinfeathers on their upper necks.

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/w55ZbBG

In this old photo, you can see young black-heads. They have the unmistakeable 'fuzz' pinfeathers aplenty (and only half grown toosh feathers).

On Eric, you can see some of the classic 'blue steel' coloring at the top of his neck. It's not the case that you get an exact 'shift' from pinfeathers to correct adult plumage because adult plumages vary, including having black feathers at the top of the neck.

However, there's generally little confusion. The season -- in the wild -- always tells you (roughly) the age of the bird. If such and such, then late black head stage. Three or four months later -- whether some 'pinfeathers' apparent or not -- clearly adult plumage.

SE

 

[AntiqueB]

I definitely see the difference now!

And I am deeply disappointed by academia. You'd think the desire to know would mean academics would want to. . . well, know.

 

[briefvisit]

'And I am deeply disappointed by academia. You'd think the desire to know would mean academics would want to. . . well, know.'

'Credentialism' has been around for a long long time; but in my lifetime, the situation has changed radically, Antique. I'd best speak in generalities:

The healthy contention in academia of different schools of thought is history. The major U.S. universities, for example, are mills: students are taught a doctrine. Discussion of that doctrine is not allowed. They leave with massive debt. They shut up about it all in order to get jobs.

 

[briefvisit]

Never a dull moment. So, emus come; horses come; emus run away – but other emus lurking. One hour later, lurking emus in the house-clearing. Here they are:

https://vimeo.com/1089576842/a0c01f8888?ts=0&share=copy

 

[briefvisit]

This morning, they’re back – but three not two.



We are mystified, as two of the three seem quite tame: they came to within about twenty feet of me. Have they been here before? Are they emus that we should recognise?



Here they are:

https://vimeo.com/1089578114/a4c76b3eeb?ts=0&share=copy