Dragos+Anita+-+The+emu

The Emu is Australia's tallest native bird, reaching 1.6-1.9m when standing erect. It weighs 30-45kg, which is lighter than its closest living relative, the Southern Cassowary //Casuarius casuarius.// Emus are easy to identify. Adult Emus are covered with shaggy grey-brown feathers except for the neck and head, which are largely naked and bluish-black. The wings are greatly reduced, but the legs are long and powerful. Each foot has three forward-facing toes and no hind toe. The name 'emu' is not an Aboriginal word. It appears to have been derived from an Arabic word for large bird. It was later adopted by early Portuguese explorers and applied to cassowaries in eastern Indonesia. The term was subsequently transferred to the Emu by early European explorers to Australia. The first specimen collected in 1788 by Europeans was from what is now an inner suburb of Sydney of Redfern.