Emu

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a flightless bird that lives only in Australia, where it stands as the tallest bird native to the continent. It is the last surviving species in its genus, Dromaius, and ranks as the third tallest bird on Earth, behind only the common ostrich and the Somali ostrich, both African ratites. Its natural range covers most of mainland Australia. However, the subspecies that once lived on Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, and King Island vanished after Europeans began settling Australia in 1788.

This bird has soft brown feathers, a long neck, and long legs, and can reach up to 1.9 meters (6 feet 3 inches) in height. It is a strong, two-legged runner that covers long distances and, when needed, can sprint at 48 kilometers per hour (30 miles per hour). It eats both plants and insects, foraging widely, and can go weeks without food. It drinks only rarely, but when it finds fresh water, it takes in large amounts.

Breeding happens in May and June, and females often fight over a mate. A female may mate with several males and lay multiple clutches of eggs in a single season. The male sits on the eggs to incubate them; during this time, he eats and drinks very little and loses a lot of weight. The eggs hatch after about eight weeks, and the father cares for the young. The chicks reach full size in roughly six months, but they may stay with their father as a family group until the next breeding season.

The emu is common enough that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as a species of least concern. Still, some local populations are considered endangered, and all the island subspecies died out by the 1800s. Threats include other animals (especially invasive species) eating their eggs, being hit by vehicles, and the breakup of their habitat.

The emu is a major cultural symbol in Australia, appearing on the country’s coat of arms and on various coins. It also plays a key role in the myths and stories of Indigenous Australians.

The origin of the name “emu” is not certain. It may come from an Arabic word for a large bird, later used by Portuguese explorers for the related cassowary in Australia and New Guinea. Another idea is that it comes from the Portuguese word “ema,” which refers to a large bird like an ostrich or crane. In Victoria, the bird was called Barrimal in the Dja Dja Wurrung language, myoure in Gunai, and courn in Jardwadjali. The Eora and Darug people of the Sydney basin knew it as murawung or birabayin.

Europeans first reported seeing emus in 1696, when Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh’s expedition visited Australia’s western coast looking for survivors of a ship lost two years earlier. The birds were already known on the eastern coast before the first European settlers arrived there in 1788. They were first mentioned as the “New Holland cassowary” in Arthur Phillip’s 1789 book *Voyage to Botany Bay*. That book described the bird as larger than the common cassowary, with longer legs and neck, no helmet on its head, and feathers covering the head and neck except for part of the throat. Its wings were too short for flight, and it had no tail. The legs were stout and jagged along the back.

Ornithologist John Latham named the species in 1790, using a specimen from the Sydney area (then part of New Holland). He worked on Phillip’s book and gave first descriptions and names to many Australian birds. The genus name *Dromaius* comes from a Greek word meaning “racer,” and *novaehollandiae* is Latin for “New Holland,” so the full name means “fast-footed New Hollander.” In 1816, French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot used two generic names in his description: first *Dromiceius*, then *Dromaius*. Since then, there has been debate over which is correct. *Dromaius* is more properly formed, but taxonomic rules usually favor the first name given unless it is a clear typo. Most modern sources, including Australian government publications, use *Dromaius*, with *Dromiceius* listed as an alternative.

For a long time, the emu was grouped with its closest relatives, the cassowaries, in the family Casuariidae, part of the ratite order Struthioniformes. A 2014 study by Mitchell and others, based on mitochondrial DNA, proposed a different classification. This splits the Casuariidae into their own order, Casuariiformes, and places only cassowaries in Casuariidae, putting emus in their own family, Dromaiidae. A cladogram from that study shows this arrangement.

At the time of European settlement, two different *Dromaius* species lived in Australia, and one more is known only from fossils. These include the insular dwarf emus.