It fluoresces in a UV spectrum that they can see, and every Cassowary has a unique pattern like a fingerprint. Shiny dinosaurs!

Two cassowaries by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎, Japan, 1760-1849)

1: c.1820-40s, drawing from Illustrations for the Great Picture Book of Everything

Let's cross the road with Papa!

Did you know male cassowaries do all of the childcare? They incubate the eggs for up to 50 days before caring for them for the next 9 months!

Hey, do you want some more cool Cassowary facts?

Of course you do.

Southern Cassowaries lay green eggs!

The female makes a small indentation and lays between 3-5 eggs. Then she leaves to do it all again, mating with up to three males in a season. (There have been reports of males sometimes taking multiple mates as well.)

2. Cassowaries are the second heaviest bird in the world, behind ostriches. Southern Cassowaries weigh between 29-75kg. Females are typically larger than males.

They're found in Northern Australia as well as Papua New Guinea and parts of Indonesia. In Australia, they are classified as endangered.

3. They have cool headgear. Take a look at your fingernails. They're made of keratin, which is also the covering of this cassowary's casque.

Females tend to have a larger casque than males. The inside of the casque is spongey.

What does it do?

Scientists aren't totally sure. It might help with the low frequency sounds they make called booms. Or it might help protect their heads. Or maybe it helps reveal age or dominance. A 2019 study even proposed that it might help radiate heat during hot weather.

For cool pictures inside the casque, check out this cassowary researcher's blog.

4. Cassowaries are frugivores! (Fruit eaters)

Fruit makes up 90-99% of their diet. They swallow the fruit whole and don't digest the seeds. This makes them important seed dispersers that help keep the forest healthy. They've been known to eat up to 200 different species of fruit!

Males have also been seen feeding insects to their chicks.

5. Check out those feet!

Cassowaries can run up to 50km per hour (31miles per hour) and jump up to 2m (7 feet) in the air.

Cassowary feet are covered in scutes made of keratin (again, same stuff as our fingernails) which protect them. They have a large claw (up to 5in/12.7cm long) which is used to help forage for fruit and for self-defense.

Speaking of that claw....

6. The most dangerous bird in the world?

There have been a grand total of two recorded deaths from a cassowary. The first was in 1926 when a teen who was attacking the bird was fatally injured by the bird's claw. The second was a 75 year man in Florida in 2019 who fell down and apparently kicked.

A 2006 study found that 75% of attacks were from birds that had been fed by humans (which is illegal in Australia). Feeding cassowaries changes their normal behavior and make them more aggressive. Most attacks included charging or chasing. Only 15% of the 221 incidents in that study included kicking. Of the attacks, 71% were birds trying to get food. Most strikingly, 15% were birds trying to defend themselves while 7% were birds defending their chicks or eggs.

All three species of cassowary (Southern, Northern, and Dwarf) have decreasing populations. Habitat loss is their biggest threat, but they're also killed by cars, dog attacks, and disease.

By any estimate, we're much more of a danger to cassowaries than they are to us.

Cassowary for birbfest !

Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius

11/11/2023 San Diego Zoo Safari Park, California

Southern Cassowary leaping for fruit 🐦Dino Bird (2017)