Cassowaries live in the tropical rainforests of north-eastern Queensland. In the dim light, a low rumble like an approaching truck is the first indicator you're likely to get of this bird - it makes this sound when investigating an unknown object.
If approached, the cassowary will usually remain still. Until you get too close and it stretches itself as high as it can, raising all its feathers and giving a loud hiss to frighten you away!
Cassowary adults stand 1.5 to 2 m high. The female is larger and more brightly coloured than the male. She also has a taller casque or helmet. The entire plumage of both sexes is made up of glossy black, hair-like feathers.
The head and neck are bare except for a few scattered bristles. The face of the cassowary is dark, and becomes blue towards the back. The sides and front of the neck are blue, and are darker blue on the lower neck. Cassowaries have a pair of red wattles hanging from the front of their neck. Their legs are green-grey.
Cassowaries live alone for most of the year. They appear to have some sort of territory, and individual birds are usually found in the same areas time and again. Females are dominant in the world of cassowaries. If two males meet, they will enact territorial behaviour until one of them retires.
But if a female meets a male, all she has to do is stretch a little and stare quietly, or at worst, make a rumbling sound. This is enough to send the male packing.
Females only tolerate male cassowaries for a few weeks before breeding. After the female has laid usually four, lustrous green eggs, she leaves the male to incubate the eggs and rear the chicks. She may go off to find another mate and lay eggs for him to take care of. The incubation period is about two months.
Once the striped yellow and black chicks hatch, the male takes them to his regular feeding places. He looks after the chicks for about nine months, and then chases them away to fend for themselves. It then takes three years for the glossy black adult plumage to develop.
Cassowaries can be bad tempered, and are also very protective of their chicks. They have formidable claws. The claw of the inside toe of each foot is a large, straight spike, 12 cm long and 3 cm wide at the base. When cassowaries fight, they raise their feathers and bend their necks right under the body, roaring loudly. They then charge each other, leaping from the ground and kicking with both feet at once. Fights are usually quick though, without much damage being done.
Cassowaries feed on fallen fruit from rainforest trees and vines. At times of food shortage, they may enter gardens and orchards to eat cultivated fruits such as bananas and mulberries. Besides fruit, cassowaries will eat almost any edible object, including fungi, snails, dead birds, and even large dead rats. But they do have their standards. They won't, for instance, eat citrus fruits if they can help it.
Threats to Cassowaries include:
- Vehicle collisions are th emajor cause of Southern Cassowary injuries and non-natural deaths.
- Dog attacks can cause injury and death to young Cassowaries and chicks.
- Habitat loss due to clearing and severe weather events. Over 80% of Southern Cassowary habitat in the Wet Tropics coastal lowlands was cleared before 1997.
- Habitat fragmentation that occurs when development separates previously connected areas of Cassowary habitat.
- Habitat degredation as invasive weeds, logging and changed fire regimes affect Cassowary environments.
What you can do to help:
- Motorists can slow down in Cassowary habitats.
- Residents and tourists within Cassowary areas can keep dogs within securely fenced areas and on a leash.
- Avoid feeding Cassowaries unless advised to by the Queensland DERM through a coordinated remote feeding program. Feeding Cassowaries too close to human habitation can cause problems as it habituates them to human presence and developments, and can draw them closer to threats such as traffic and dogs.
- Join a volunteer group to help out in Cassowary areas at www.wettropics.gov.au/wwc/wwc_groups.html.
Foundation Projects to Save Cassowaries
Rebuilding a strategic Cassowary Corridor at Mission Beach
In 2011, the Foundation and partners are providing $4,000 to replant necessary trees in Cassowary habitat that was devestated by Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
