Southern cassowary

Description:

Black plumage, blue face and neck (darker), red on the nape and two red wattles measuring around 17.8 cm in length hanging down around its throat. A horn-like brown casque, measuring 13 to 16.9 cm high, sits atop the head. The bill can range from 9.8 to 19 cm. The three-toed feet are thick and powerful, equipped with a lethal dagger-like claw up to 12 cm on the inner toe. Normally this species ranges from 127 to 170 cm in length. The height is normally 1.5 to 1.8 m, is technically the largest Asian bird and the largest Australian bird.

Habitat:

Spotted at Daintree rainforest, Australia during a day walk into the forest. We saw the specimen when leaving the forest and was a big surprise to meet it at the end of our excursion. The southern cassowary is distributed in Indonesia, New Guinea and northeastern Australia.

Notes:

The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary is a large flightless bird and his binomial name Casuarius casuarius is derived from its Malay name kesuari. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Casuariiformes Family: Casuariidae Genus: Casuarius Species: C. casuarius