Helmeted cassowary bird: photo with description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

This unusual bird is not to be trifled with when it is enraged. When danger appears, defending itself from the enemy, it kicks with great force with its powerful and strong legs, at the same time inflicting deep wounds with its claws and sharp beak.

The name of this bird is the helmeted cassowary. Photo, description, habitat and other features of this bird are presented in the article.

Varieties

Few people know about cassowaries. However, the history of the development of these amazing birds goes back millions of years. However, they have already been driven out almost everywhere, except for a few small islands, among which is the small Cape York Peninsula.

Before we turn to the answer to the question of where the helmeted cassowary bird lives, we will briefly consider the varieties of these birds. The cassowary family belongs to the group of ratites, which includes ostriches, kiwis, emus and rhea. A characteristic feature of these varieties of birds is a flat sternum and the absence of a keel. They cannot fly, so their wings are very underdeveloped, and their plumage is more like a hairline.

Most of the ratites have largesizes, but there are kids among them. In total, the family includes 3 types of cassowaries: helmeted (see photo in the article), orange-necked, Bennett or Muruk. Now scientists dispute the existence of a fourth species, which has minor differences from the Muruk cassowary.

To date, only 22 subspecies of three varieties of cassowary have been described. But due to the fact that the differences between ages and sexes have not been sufficiently studied, it is considered unreasonable to divide cassowaries into subspecies.

General description of birds

Cassowaries are flightless large birds. Some adults can reach 2 meters in height with a weight of 60 kilograms. They are the largest birds in Australia and the second largest in the world (the first being ostriches).

All three varieties have a kind of outgrowth on the head, called a "helmet" and consisting of a kind of horny substance located around a hard material of a spongy structure. There are several versions about the functions of this helmet. Perhaps they use this helmet to advance while running through the undergrowth. According to another version, the helmet is a secondary sexual characteristic. Another version is that birds use it as a weapon in fights for dominance or as a means of raking leaves during the search for food.

Habitat and habitat

This bird lives in the northeastern parts of Australia and on the island of New Guinea.

The helmeted cassowary bird (photo is presented in the article) is a native inhabitant of Queensland (Australia), NewGuinea and its neighboring small islands, represented by tropical jungles with countless fresh lakes, streams and rivers. The ranges of Queensland are characterized by an abundance of fast and transparent mountain streams that form amazingly beautiful waterfalls. In the picturesque local forests, humid and warm summers prevail all year round, which contributes to the continuous growth of plants. In this regard, cassowaries never lack food in these places.

Queensland has 2 large national parks that are the natural habitat of these birds.

Description

The helmeted cassowary bird is very large. Her weight can reach 60 kilograms, and her body height is 1.8 meters.

As a rule, females are larger than males. Neck and head without feathers are bluish-blue or purple. They have an ornament on their heads called a helmet. There are also two red outgrowths on the neck. The main shade of fluffy and shiny plumage is black.

Toes on strong and muscular legs, devoid of plumage, have sharp claws that serve as weapons for the cassowary. The eardrum is clearly visible in the bird, indicating excellent hearing.

Lifestyle

The quarrelsome helmeted cassowary appreciates solitude most of all. Due to the fact that he is a hermit and lives mainly in the lower tier of the tropical impenetrable jungle, densely overgrown with vines and shrubs, it is very difficult to observe him in natural conditions. Meeting with a cassowary is a rather rare luck, although its voice is often heard in the forest. This bird occupies a certain area adjacent to a fresh water reservoir.

Cassowary is an excellent swimmer, and he can easily overcome any water obstacles. In hot weather, he often enjoys swimming. The cassowary bypasses its possessions, slowly jogging. Although the helmeted cassowary is not afraid of impassable thickets, it still prefers trodden paths. He makes his way through the bushes, stretching his head forward and pushing the branches of dense thickets with his unique helmet.

The sides of the bird, as noted above, also have protection against injury. They have styloid processes - all that remains of the original flight feathers. When running, the cassowary lowers its head low, stretching its neck forward and raising the feathers on the coccyx, so in this state it looks taller from behind than from the front.

By nature, this bird is shy. Its sharp enough hearing allows you to pick up alarming sounds from afar. In case of danger, she quickly runs away, rushing at great speed through the undergrowth and sometimes jumping up to 1.5 meters high. If there is nowhere to run, the cassowary attacks the enemy and inflicts deep wounds with its sharp claws and beak.

Food

What does the helmeted cassowary eat? Plant foods predominate in his diet. These are primarily nuts and fruits that have fallen from trees. But he can also eat a fish or a frog caught in a pond, as well as a lizard or a snake.

The cassowary gets fish in the river in an unusual way: it descends to the water and enters it to a depth of about a meter, thencrouches in it, ruffling his feathers. In this position, he sits for about fifteen minutes, then suddenly presses his feathers and gets out onto the shore, where he shakes himself several times. Small fish spill out from under the feathers, which the cassowary immediately begins to eat. The diet of this bird also includes mushrooms, which also replenish the body with the protein necessary to build body tissue.

Reproduction

When the breeding season comes, the female helmeted cassowary calls her friends with buzzing bass calls. She, completely devoid of maternal instinct, is in the company of her husband only until the moment of laying eggs. Then she walks away, and all the worries about the chicks and the nest fall on the shoulders of the male.

The nest of a cassowary is an ordinary hole dug in the forest floor. It often happens that several females lay 3-8 eggs at once in the nest of one male. Large eggs have a greenish tint, their weight reaches 500 grams. After filling the nest with eggs, the male begins to incubate the entire clutch. The incubation period is 53 days.

Well-developed chicks are born and immediately leave the nest. However, until full independence, they remain under the care of their father.

A little about offspring

Having the ability to run almost immediately after birth, helmeted cassowary chicks follow their parent everywhere. This continues for about 9 months. By the end of this period, the color of their feathers completely changes - it becomes dark. The “helmet” also begins to appear.

Kat the onset of the second year of life, the chicks turn into adults, and by the third they are ready to mate. The life expectancy of cassowaries in nature is 12 years or more, and in captivity they can live two to three times longer. This contributes to the continued existence of this population.

Enemies

Cassowaries have few enemies. The fauna of Australia and New Guinea is represented by a small number of large animals. Among predators, only dingo dogs pose a danger to them. These birds defend themselves from their enemies either by running quickly or by attacking. Their natural enemies (mostly for young birds and chicks) are also wild pigs, which not only destroy chicks and nests, but also constitute a rather serious food competition for these birds.

It should be noted that the cassowary always warns of an upcoming attack with its ruffled feathers, only then it rushes at the enemy. Its powerful paws, as noted above, are capable of inflicting quite serious wounds, even death.

Cassowary conservation

Recently, there has been a deterioration in the habitat of birds. Helmeted cassowaries, like orange-necked cassowaries, are today recognized as endangered species. Their number in nature in total is about 1,500-10,000 individuals. This is due to the reduction of areas suitable for their habitation. Therefore, today protected areas are being created to preserve these unique birds.

Among other things, natural disasters and adverse weather conditions can have a negative impact on birds.

Some interesting facts

• The cassowary looks like an unusual combination of turkey and ostrich.
• The color of the neck and head of a bird can change depending on the mood. When irritated or excited, it darkens due to blood flow.
• The sound of the cassowary can be heard at a distance of about 6 kilometers.
• Young birds are brown and striped. They learn almost everything from their father: how to find food, how to catch worms and insects, frogs, fish and snails.
• In the wild, the cassowary lives from 12 to 19 years, and in captivity more - 40-50 years.
• Cassowaries can pose a considerable danger even when kept in captivity. They have nowhere to run from the net enclosure, so at the slightest threat to them, these very shy birds can rush into a fight, inflicting terrible wounds on the caretakers.
• The helmet of the male cassowary, filled with a spongy mass, is larger than that of the female.
• The Papuans, the original inhabitants of New Guinea, catch young cassowaries in the forest, then fatten them in paddocks set up near their huts. Their meat is considered an exquisite delicacy here, and the Papuans make knives from long and hard bones. Claws and small bones are used to make arrowheads.