The Emu

The emu is Australia's largest bird and can grow to a height of 6 feet, or just under 2 meters, The female is the larger bird and can weigh in at 40kg and the male at 36kg.They are a flightless bird very similar to the Ostrich.

The small wings may be useless for flying but they help in keeping the bird cool in the very hot summer months. They spread their wings out and air circulates around the body cooling the bird down.

The feathers of the emu are different from any other bird as they grow in pairs with the two shafts being joined at the base, and the bards from the shafts are not joined together but are separate giving the bird an appearance of being cover in hair rather than feathers.

The beak is wide and soft making it ideal for grazing on grass and foraging among the bushes. The emu is omnivorous and will eat fruit, seeds, green plants, flowers and insects,

They are a very hardy animal, and can survive in conditions varying from very cold right through to very hot desert regions. They can be found right across the Australian continent but are less densely populated in the central arid areas.

They generally find a partner in summer and start to breed in winter and depending upon the seasonal conditions the hen will lay either just a few eggs in a bad season, or can lay many more in a good season. Once she a finished laying the male will take over the job of sitting on the eggs and rearing the chicks until they are about 18 months old. This means the male will only mate every other year while the female will find another partner for the next breeding season.

Each emu egg has seven layers, the inner most layer is white while the outer layer is emerald green and textured, this unusual feature of the emu egg distinguishes it from all other types of eggs. They are used in a great many different arts and crafts such as painting, etching and carving.

The leather that is produced from the body of the emu is a very fine and soft leather with a distinctive pattern on its surface. The leather from the legs is thicker and has a raised pattern making it quite different to any other leather. It can be used for making bags, boots and wallets.

Emu meat

The meat from an emu has three times the amount of iron as beef and has a fat content of about 3%. Emus do not store fat in the muscle tissues like cattle but lay it down in a layer external to the muscle, so it does not matter how fat an emu gets, the fat content in the meat will not vary. This makes it a very healthy meat that is also very low in cholesterol.

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