Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[briefvisit]

Welcome, Jeremy. Well, feel free to post photos of them.

SE

 

[Finchbreeder]

UE knows a good looking Brash Boy when she sees one it would seem.

 

[briefvisit]

We don't know Brash Boy's age. We see he has an assertive style -- that's good for a male looking for a mate. He certainly is a big good-looking bird.

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/ey17WxU

'What we’re waiting to see is if they start ‘operating’ as a pair against Limpy Chick and Co./other emus.'

'Operating' includes defending their turf. And here they are, driving off a pair of random emus (who just moseyed off up the track).

 

[Finchbreeder]

If they become the "house yard" pair that will make finding out if UE has a recessive dilute gene (and is probably a distant relo of BB) easier when they have chicks.

 

[briefvisit]

'If they become the "house yard" pair that will make finding out if UE has a recessive dilute gene (and is probably a distant relo of BB) easier when they have chicks.'

sigh It may not happen, Finchbreeder.

The form of the breeding is sorta 'fragmented.' They may become a pair here, but mate elsewhere. Then the male alone incubates. And the day the hatch is complete, he hits the road. (Limpy Chick has been the great exception.)

There is detail to add here -- and you are learning how 'Project Rothschildi' progresses on cobbled together direct and indirect observations -- but a house-yard pair doesn't raise its chicks in the house yard. We usually never see the chicks that hatch here.

Dad and his clutch hit the road the hour the last chick emerges -- the last 'fragment.'

SE

PS I have written this note many times before. sigh. All up -- we're somewhere around 6,500 days of observations -- many many emus have been observed. Dozens and dozens have spent time in the house-clearing. Fewer were actually members of Eric's family. But only two are certainly identifiable if they turned up this minute: Felicity and Toosh Toosh.

'Ephemeral' is the right term here.

 

[briefvisit]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mating-season-in-australia.641934/

This thread is unique.

Oh, wow -- here is the entry on the other 'sandy' emu:



' . . . the group that did stay contained a gorgeous sandy-coloured chick. We were able to watch it through the binoculars (and there were three ‘brumbies’ – mustangs – watching us from about one-and-a-half tennis courts away).'

Supreme Emu'

 

[briefvisit]

On Page 11, there's a photo of Boy Emu. It's 99.99% certain that no one has ever documented a complete mating season.

 

[AntiqueB]

Do you think the "sandy-colored chick" might be BB?

In your experience, which will be way more accurate than Google, how long do emus live?

 

[briefvisit]

'In your experience, which will be way more accurate than Google, how long do emus live?'

Longevity is fuzzy! There are reports of 'paddock emus' -- sorta pets on country farms -- living well over twenty years.

But wild emus? I don' know. I knew Eric the Emu for a decade, and I think he as a grizzled veteran when I met him -- but I don't know.

I know/knew Felicity for 12 years.