Southern Cassowary (female)
Casuarius casuarius
Endangered in Australia
November 16th, 2018
Etty Bay, Queensland, Australia
Canon EOS 1D X Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens
Canon 600EX II-RT flash
The unmistakable Southern Cassowary - the giants of the Australian rainforest! If you ever doubted that birds evolved from dinosaurs, then take a good look at these prehistoric-looking beauties!
Southern Cassowary are a large, flightless bird, restricted to the rainforests of tropical north Queensland. They are Australia's heaviest bird, weighing between 35-85kgs & among our tallest at an intimidating ~1.7m in height. The females of this species are larger & more colourful than the males. Their diet mainly consists of the fruits of rainforest plants, & they will swallow entire fruits & rapidly pass the seeds in large piles of multi-coloured dung. They are the only known dispersers of many large-seeded rainforest plants & play a vital role is rainforest regeneration.
Cassowary are usually most reliably seen at the coastal town of Etty Bay, where a remnant patch of rainforest meets the ocean. This picturesque location is absolutely stunning, & these birds can often be seen wandering through the local caravan park & along the shoreline at dawn & dusk.
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