Emu: newly learned Facts

Emu in the Outback

I did not draw a new emu picture, but in preparation for our Outback trip to Australia we have been studying up on Australia and its plant life and wildlife.  I just learned that the male emu is the one who sits on the nest and protects and cares for the eggs for up to 56 days.  In that time it neither eats nor drinks.  It even turns the eggs with its beak and it does this several times a day.  In the mean time the female goes to find another male to mate with.  The female can produce several clutches of eggs during the breeding season. . . because SHE does not have to care for them.  

The emus are an ancient animal and even have claws on their wings like the first feathered dinosaurs, like Microraptor.  In fact, the Emu was used (apprortiately) as the model for the Velociraptor in the movie Jurassic Park.  

Below is the original post from exactly one month ago:  

Emus are the second largest bird in the world, after the Ostritch.  They are flightless, like the ostritch.  Emus can grow to over 6 feet or about 2 meters tall.  They can weigh up to 132 lbs or 60 kg.  The males incubate the eggs and care for the young.  The female is then free to again with another male to make more emu babies.  Emus can run up to 31 mph or 50 kph.  They eat plants and insects.  When water is available they can drink a large amount.  

Emus are raised in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.  These are emu farms.  They are able to defend themselves with their claws on their feet.  A good slashing kick could make a dingo in 

Australia or a coyote in thre USA really think twice.  I have family that once lived next to an emu farm in Northern Arizona.  The emu farmer (rancher?) gave me a failed emu egg that I had in my Science classroom for years.  

Emus live in most parts of Australia.  There was a species of emju on Tasmania and but it is now exticnt.  There were two dwarf species on King Island and Kangaroo Island, but they are also now exticnt, clearly from European settlers.  The large emus still exist in many parts of Australia.