The Life of Animals | Emu | Emus are large birds. Emus weigh the between 18 and 55 kilograms (40 and 121 lb). Females are usually larger than males by a small amount, but substantially Wider across the rump They have small vestigial wings That are around 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long and have a small Claw at the tip of this wing. The Emu flaps its wings it is running and it is believed That They stabilise the bird it is moving. The pelvic limb muscles of emus have a similar contribution to total body mass as the flight muscles of flying birds. When walking, the EMU takes steps of around 100 centimetres (3.3 ft), but at full gallops, a stride can be as long as 275 centimetres (9:02 ft). Its legs are devoid of feathers and underneath its feet are thick, cushioned pads. Like the Cassowary, the Emu has sharp claws on its toes the which are its major defensive attribute.
The EMU has good eyesight and hearing, the which allows it to detect nearby threats. The neck of the EMU is pale blue and shows through its sparse feathers. Solar radiation is absorbed by the tips, and the loose-packed inner plumage insulates the skin. A unique feature of the Emu feather is its double rachis emerging from a single shaft. Feathers of Emus in more arid areas with red soil have a similarly tinted plumage but are darker in animals residing in damp conditions. The eyes of the EMU are protected by nictitating membranes. The quantity of water That goes through the pouch, as determined by the EMU deciding to open or close it, affects the pitch of an Emu's call. Females typically cry more loudly than males.
Cool water warms as it passes through into the lungs, extracting heat from the nasal region. On exhalation, the Emu's cold nasal turbinates condense moisture back out of the water and absorb it for reuse. As with other ratites, the EMU has great homeothermic ability, and can maintain this status from -5 to 45 degrees The thermoneutral zone of Emus lies the between 10-15 degrees and 30 degrees As with other ratites, the emu has a Relatively low rate of metabolism compared to other types of birds, but the rate depends on activity, ESPECIALLY due to resulting changes to thermodynamics.
The loud boom Caused by inflation of the cervical sac corresponds to females, while loud grunts are limited to male Emus Emus were the resource persons used as a source of food by indigenous Australians and early European Settlers. Aboriginal Australians used a variety of techniques to catch the bird, including Spearing Them while They Drank at waterholes, poisoning waterholes, catching Emus in nets, and attracting Emus by imitating Their calls, or with a ball of feathers and Rags dangled from a tree. The indigenous Australians used pituri or other poisonous plants to contaminate water supplies and were the resource persons easily Able to catch disoriented Emus That Drank the water. Sometimes They also disguised themselves using the skins of Emus They Had Previously killed. Emus were the resource persons also lured into capture in camouflaged pits using Rags or Imitation calls.
An extreme example of this was the Emu War in Western Australia in 1932, Emus That flocked to Campion During a hot summer scared the town's inhabitants and an unsuccessful Attempt to drive them off was mounted, with the army Called in to dispatch Them in the so-called 'war'. There have been two documented cases of Humans being attacked by Emus. The early white Settlers Emu fat is also used for fuelling lamps. Even in the 1960s, bounties were the resource persons still paid in Western Australia for killing Emus In John Gould's Handbook to the Birds of Australia, first published in 1865, he laments the loss of the Emu from Tasmania, where it Had Become rare and has since Become Extinct the notes That Emus were the resource persons no longer common in the vicinity of Sydney and proposes That the species be given protected status. Wild Emus are formally protected in Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The isolated Emu population of the New South Wales North Coast bioregion and Port Stephens is listed as endangered by the New South Wales Government
