Tall, fast and flightless, the emu is one of the planet’s most remarkable birds. These giant flightless birds found in Australia belong to an ancient lineage, and alongside the kangaroo they star on the national coat of arms. You will not find a more unmistakable bird anywhere, and here are the fun facts worth learning about the country’s biggest, from record-breaking legs to role-reversed parenting.
Description and Size
Picture a shaggy brown dust mop on two piano legs. An adult stands up to 1.9 meter tall and weighs about 50 kilograms, making it the second largest bird in the world — only the ostrich outranks it. The plumage is a double-shafted design that insulates against the desert sun, the tiny wing is hidden under the plumage, and bare blue-grey skin shows on the neck and head. The calls are just as distinctive: males boom with a deep resonant note, while females make a drumming sound. Search for emu calls and watch a video or two of the booming on YouTube — turn the volume down first.
Where Do Emus Live?
Emus live right across the mainland — from tropical savanna to snowy high country and the red heart of the outback. Their preferred habitat is open sclerophyll forest and grassland plains, where there is space to roam and easy pickings. Emus are wanderers: tagged birds have strolled hundreds of kilometres in a season, chasing the rains and fresh growth, and defending no area as their own. Meet more locals in our guide to native birds and animals.
What’s on the Menu?
Emus eat almost anything green or crawly: seeds, fruits, flowers, insects and grubs make up the daily menu. They swallow pebbles to grind meals in their gizzard, and in dry times a big bird can trek long distances between fertile patches. In farm country they sometimes help themselves to crops, which made them deeply unpopular with growers — and famously unwinnable, as the army learned in 1932.
Eggs and Role-Reversed Parents
Emu family life flips the script. In late autumn the hen lays a clutch of huge dark-green eggs — each one bigger than your palm — and then the male takes over completely. Dad incubates the clutch for about eight weeks without food, losing serious weight, and then raises the striped chicks alone for up to 18 months. The mother, meanwhile, wanders off. The young stay with their father long after hatching, and broods merge into a group of dozens of young birds, all supervised by a few attentive males.
How Fast and How High?
Those long legs are engines. Emus can run at nearly 50 km/h, take strides up to 3 metres, and swim capably when a waterway blocks the path. And despite having no usable arms, they can still jump — clearing fences around 1.5 metres high using leg power alone. A surprised one at a zoo fence is a memorable sight.
National Symbol Status
Why the coat of arms? The story goes that both this bird and the kangaroo are said to be unable to move backwards easily — a handy symbol for a nation intent on going forward. The species also appears in Aboriginal Dreaming stories, where it is often an ancestral figure that shaped the land.
How High Can Emus Jump?
Around 1.5 metres from a standing start — all leg power, nothing else. Farmers learned early that emu-proof fences need to be seriously tall.
How Many Are Left?
Plenty — somewhere between 600,000 and 900,000 remain in the wild. The Tasmanian subspecies was hunted to extinction by 1865, but mainland birds stay secure.
Are They Dangerous?
Not really. They are curious rather than aggressive, and their first move is always to flee. A cornered bird can kick and slash with a toe claw, so give wildlife space and nobody gets hurt.
Can They Fly?
No. Their arms are stubs, and the whole body plan of this giant bird found across the outback traded flight for speed. Along with the cassowary, the species belongs to the ratite lineage of giant ground birds.
Do They Make Good Pets or Farm Animals?
Farmed emus are raised for oil and hides under licence, but a pet emu is a terrible idea — they are big, fast, loud and famously temperamental. Storybooks for kids tend to skip that part, but grown-ups should know it.
References and Sources
- Park service species profile: park service website
- Museum bird guide: museum website