Cassowary Most Dangerous Bird in the World

The cassowary has long, glossy black hair-like feathers, a blue face, a distinctive helmet-like casque on its head, and a long blue neck with drooping red double wattles. It can grow to over 2m tall and weigh up to 59 kg. It has almost non-existent wings, having shrunk to just a few long, modified porcupine-like quills. It also has no tail feathers. The cassowary has powerful, scaly legs, each with three toes. The inside toe of each foot has a 10cm long dagger-shaped claw used for digging. This spiky claw is also a lethal weapon for fighting and defending itself. A cassowary can run at speeds of up to 50kph (30mph), even through dense forests. It can also jump as high as 2m (7ft).

---

Cassowary Sounds

The cassowary makes a deep, low-frequency rumbling and booming sound reaching as low as 32 hertz. It makes these noises by resonating air in its chest and neck and amplifying the sound further with its casque. The cassowary also whistles, hisses, and claps its bills to communicate. The cassowary has specially adapted hearing capable of picking up low-frequency calls from other cassowaries over vast distances.

The cassowary is a good swimmer, crossing rivers and even swimming in the ocean. However, it's feathers aren't waterproof like most birds. So after a swim, it shakes its body, much like a dog, to get rid of water. The cassowary has a lifespan of about 40 years in the wild. It belongs to a group of flightless birds known as ratites. It is the closest present-day living relative of the ancient dinosaurs.

---

Cassowary Attack

A cassowary is fearless and will attack if it feels threatened. With its powerful legs and sharp 10cm long claws, it cassowary can inflict serious harm on its victim. In fact, cassowaries have been known to chase their victims at speeds of up to 50kph and launch themselves up to 2 meters off the ground to deliver powerful kicks. Nearly 75% of cassowary attacks on humans result from humans trying to feed these animals. So, beware of the cassowary!

---

Cassowary Habitat Where Do Cassowaries Live?

Cassowaries live in the rainforests of northern Queensland in Australia and in Papua New Guinea (See map). Their natural environment consists of rainforests, swamps, mangrove forests, and occasionally beaches near these areas. They are solitary creatures that tend to be more active during dawn and dusk rather than in the middle of the day when it is too hot.

Each cassowary's home range is roughly 7 square kilometres in size but may vary depending on environmental conditions. Female cassowaries often trespass on male territories, potentially for mating or because they are larger and more domineering than the males. If another male attempts to enter a territory, however, the owner will defend it vigorously.

---

Cassowary Diet What Do Cassowaries Eat?

A Cassowary’s diet consists mainly of fruits that have fallen to the rainforest floor. But it also eats leaves, fungus, insects, snails, frogs, snakes, small animals, and carrion. The cassowary's favourite fruit is the Cassowary Plum. This large, blue fruit is poisonous to humans and most animals. The cassowary, however, enjoys eating this fruit so much that it will jealously guard a tree that is dropping its fruit for days until the tree stops shedding its fruit.

The cassowary has a pointed beak, but it doesn't have a tongue. Because it doesn't have a tongue, it picks its food with its beak, tosses it back into its throat, and swallows its food whole. A cassowary needs up to five kilograms of food a day. It feeds in the morning and at dusk and rests during other times of the day. The cassowary drinks by scooping water with its lower bill.

Cassowaries have a relatively primitive digestive system compared to other birds. As a result, they cannot extract the nutrition in seeds within a fruit, protecting the seeds and assisting with their dispersal over large rainforest areas. Because of its seed dispersal role, the cassowary is considered a “keystone species”. Its loss from the ecosystem would significantly impact plant propagation in these tropical forests. In fact, many seeds will only germinate once they have been passed through the digestive tract of a cassowary. Cassowary dung, called a “scat”, often contains hundreds, if not thousands, of seeds. Other animals sometimes feed on seeds in cassowary scat, helping to propagate these seeds further.

---

Cassowary Reproduction & Life Cycle Cassowary Eggs, Chicks, Parenting

The peak breeding season for cassowaries is between June and November. A female will attract a male with her mating call and by displaying her brightly coloured neck and wattles. The male will approach her cautiously, and if she views him favourably, he will dance in front of her to win her over. If she approves of him, the pair will spend at least a month together courting and mating. The female cassowary lays 3-8 large eggs in a nest made from leaf litter. Once the eggs are laid, the female departs, leaving the male to incubate the eggs.

Cassowary eggs are bright green or pale-blue-green in colour, 9-14 centimetres long and weigh roughly half a kilo each. The male cassowary guards and incubates the eggs for about 50 days. He rarely eats during this period and may lose as much as 30% of his body weight as a result.

When the eggs hatch, the chicks are light brown and have stripes that camouflage them very well amongst the leaf litter and protect them from predators. This colouring disappears as the chick grows. Cassowary chicks do not have a casque, which only begins growing in juveniles when their plumage changes. The young chicks make a whistling-peeping sound as they run about. The father may respond by clacking its beak, burping, or even making a booming noise that cassowaries are renowned for. After about nine months, when the chicks can fend for themselves, the father chases them away to go and find their own territory.

The mortality rate amongst cassowary offspring is very high. Usually, only one in each brood survives into adulthood. They reach sexual maturity at about three years. A cassowary lives for up to forty years.

---

Cassowary Name & Meaning How Did The Cassowary Get its Name?

The word Cassowary is pronounced "cas-so-wary". There are two explanations as to how this cassowary got its name. One is that it is based on the French word "casque" which meaning helmet. The other is that it is from words in the Papuan language - 'kasu' meaning horned and 'weri' meaning head. The second explanation seems more plausible given that this bird is also found in Papua New Guinea.

The cassowary found in Australia is known as the Southern Cassowary or Double-wattled Cassowary. This is to distinguish it from its relatives found on the island of New Guinea, which is referred to as the Single-wattled Cassowary.

---

Cassowary Casque Why Does the Cassowary Wear a Helmet?

Each cassowary wears a unique horn-like structure on top of its head, referred to as a casque. The casque is made of a sponge-like material covered with a thick outer layer of keratin (Keratin is the same material as our fingernails). Although it looks solid, it is actually leathery and soft enough to be pressed. Inside the keratin outer sheath is a bony layer about 2-3mm thick beneath this is trabeculae (photo), a porous, spongy bone full of holey spaces. Beyond this is a large semi-hollow chamber with even more delicate trabeculae and fine blood vessels.

The purpose of this relatively large, odd-looking structure on top of the cassowary's head isn't fully understood. However, several hypotheses have been put forward for this unusual characteristic. These are explained below.

It's a Crash Helmet! — One suggestion is that it is a "crash helmet" to protect the animal's head as it travels through the dense rainforest. Given that it doesn't seem to protect the cassowary's eyes and ears, the most vulnerable parts of its head, this is probably not its purpose. — unlikely

It's a Lethal Weapon — There is no evidence that the cassowary uses its head in fighting. Its casque is relatively weak and spongy and more likely to be seriously damaged in combat. — unlikely

It's a Tool — While the animal may use its head sometimes to knock down low-hanging fruit or to shift leaf litter, using its casque as a tool doesn't seem to be its primary purpose. — unlikely

It's a Fancy Headdress —Some have suggested that it is a fancy headdress to attract a mate. The casque and its colourful neck and wattles may be intended to signal dominance, health, and virility. There seems to be some truth in this, similar to how peacocks use their brightly coloured necks and tail feathers.— probably

It's an Amplifier and Receiver — The cassowary makes a very low-frequency booming sound. Some say the casque acts like a sound-box to modify, amplify, and resonate the bird's sounds. These low-frequency sounds are better transmitted long distances through the thick forest vegetation. The casque may also act like a radar dish (receiver) assisting in picking up other cassowaries' calls. — probably

It's a Radiator—The latest theory is that the cassowary uses the casque to regulate its body temperature. The cassowary is covered in thick dark feathers and lives in tropical Queensland, where the weather is hot and humid. Many tropical birds use their beaks and wings to cool themselves. The cassowary has none of these. The inside of the casque is laced with an extensive network of blood vessels. When the weather is hot, these blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to flow in the casque, where the air outside cools it and then pumped back into the cassowary's body. When it's colder, the vessels constrict, restricting the blood supply to the casque.— most likely

Conclusion —The most likely reason for the cassowary's casque is to regulate its body temperature. Secondary uses are for display, as an amplifier to generate low-frequency sounds, and as a radar dish to receive calls from other cassowaries.

---

Cassowary - Dinosaur Bird Is The Cassowary a Dinosaur?

The cassowary, with its massive size, crested head, brightly coloured neck, scaly legs, daggered feet and booming sound, looks like a fearsome dinosaur–two-legged raptor, like the Velociraptor from the movie Jurassic Park.

While all birds are descended from dinosaurs, the cassowary seems more similar to ancient dinosaurs than most other birds. Palaeontologists have discovered a 77-million-year-old fossil they believe belonged to a beaked caenagnathid or dromaeosaurid dinosaur. These dinosaurs shared many characteristics with modern birds, such as feathers, hollow bones, nesting, egg-brooding and care for their young. Scientists believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs such as these. Also, several dinosaurs, such as the corythosaurus, a duck-billed dinosaur, had large crests on their heads, similar to the cassowary. So it is reasonable to say cassowaries are probably the closest living creature to a dinosaur.

---

Cassowary - A Flightless Bird The Cassowary is a Ratite

The Cassowary belongs to a group of birds known as Ratites which also include the Ostrich, Emu, Kiwi, and Rhea. Ratites began to evolve separately around 60 million years ago on the super-continent of Gondwana before it broke up into the continents of Africa, South America, Australia, and Antarctica. Ratites are different from other birds in that they have a flat breastbone and are mostly large-bodied and terrestrial; they are rather big and don't fly. Because they no longer fly, their wings have shrunk into non-functioning stubs. These birds also have a less sophisticated digestive system than modern birds.

---

Casswary Predators & Threats Cassowary is an Endangered Bird

There are between 20,000-50,0000 southern cassowaries left in the wild, but their numbers are declining rapidly. The major reasons for the rapid decline in the number of cassowaries are outlined below.

Large tracts of rainforest, home to these unique birds, has been chopped down for timber, banana and sugar-cane plantations and urban developments. This destruction of the tropical rainforests and fragmentation of habitat is the primary cause of the decline of the cassowary population. Over 80% of the original Cassowary habitat has been lost since European settlement in Australia in 1788. Each cassowary requires approximately 70-300 hectares of rainforest to survive. Cassowary chicks, when about nine months old, must find their own territory. In an ever-shrinking forest, this has become near impossible. Only one in a usual clutch of four siblings survives into full adulthood.

The loss and fragmentation of their habitat have resulted in more cassowaries ventures near roads. Motor vehicle strikes account for about 50% of the annual cassowary death toll.

Feeding of cassowaries by humans encourages them to leave their natural habitat. It lures them into suburban areas where they are more prone to vehicle strikes and dog attacks.

Venturing into suburbia makes these unique birds, especially the young birds, vulnerable to dog attacks. Attacks by dogs account for about 18% of annual cassowary deaths.

Feral pigs destroy cassowary nests and feed on their eggs. They also compete with the cassowary for food.

---

Is the Cassowary Endangered? Cassowary Conservation Status

There are about 20,000-50,0000 Southern Cassowaries left in the wild. Their numbers are declining because of habitat loss. The Australian government lists the southern cassowary as as an endangered animal. These birds are classified as Least Concern (2018) by the IUCN.

---

---

---