Emus & Cassowaries

Emus & Cassowaries

Emus & Cassowaries
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 10
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	10.63

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		dominance, drawback, intimidate, supplement, despite, feathery, diets, encounter, species, wounds, mainly, theory, vegetation, easily, subtle, indicate
	content words:		New Guinea

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Other Languages
     French: Les émeus et casoars
     Spanish: Emús y Casuarios
     German: Emus & Kasuare

Emus & Cassowaries

¹     In Australia, there are two birds - emus and cassowaries - competing for the title of the world's second largest bird. Indeed, with similar heights (around 6 feet) and weights (about 130 pounds), emus and cassowaries are both strong contenders to stand behind ostriches and be the second largest bird on Earth. Just like ostriches, whose wings are deemed too small to carry their heavy weights to the sky, emus and cassowaries are also flightless. Nevertheless, emus and cassowaries don't mind this drawback, because they swim well, run fast (more than 30 miles per hour), and jump high (5 feet)!

²     Despite many similarities, there are several subtle differences between emus and cassowaries. First and foremost is cassowaries' gray helmets (called "casques"). We cannot be sure what cassowaries use their casques for. Some scientists think that casques protect cassowaries' heads from getting scratched and bumped when they run through dense tropical forests. Others disagree and point out that if this theory were true, then cassowaries would have casques since birth, not just when they are close to the adulthood. Scientists that oppose the "protective gear" view believe that cassowaries use their casques to indicate their age, to exercise dominance, or to intimidate their enemies.

³     Wattles mark the second major difference between emus and cassowaries. Emus have no wattles, but two out of three cassowary species do. Since the cassowary species that resides in Australia has two wattles dangling at its throat, you can easily tell if the bird that you encounter in Australia is an emu or a cassowary. While the southern cassowary (or the double-wattled cassowary) lives in both Australia and New Guinea, the northern cassowary (or the single-wattled cassowary) and the dwarf cassowary live exclusively in New Guinea.

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