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Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) Alternate name(s): "Double-wattled Cassowary", "Two-wattled Cassowary", "Australian Cassowary" Aboriginal name(s): Race "johnsonii": "gumbagan" [ngadjon] Size: 1.5-1.75 m Weight: 29-34 kg (male), 58 kg (female)

Australia: Family Group 1 Family Group 1 table Emu Southern Cassowary Malleefowl Orange-footed Scrubfowl Australian Brush-turkey Stubble Quail King Quail Brown Quail Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Southern Cassowaries are massive, flightless birds with very strong legs and long necks. Their plumage looks stringy and is black from the base of the neck downwards. The small heads have bony casques ("helmets"). Their heads and necks are bald, with blue-red skin and long crimson or red wattles. There are small differences between the two sexes. Male Southern Cassowaries have smaller casques and less conspicuous colours of the wattled skin compared with females. Males also have smaller feet. Juvenile Southern Cassowaries have a grey-brown plumage and orange-rufous skin on head and neck. Their wattles are inconspicuous and the casque is still absent. Chicks have a bold brown-white striped pattern and an orange-rufous head and neck.

Taxonomy, classification See Southern Cassowary at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Southern Cassorary is available HERE . The range of the Southern Cassowary extends from the West Papuan islands via the southern half of New Guinea to far north-eastern Australia. The range of Southern Cassowaries, race "johnsonii", in Australia is limited to parts of the East coast of Cape York peninsula in far-northern QLD and the coastal fringe, slopes and tablelands stretching to the North and South of Atherton. Southern Cassowaries are found in tropical rainforest, usually along stream banks and in clearings.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "johnsonii" V. Collins found Southern Cassowaries, race "johnsonii", first at Mission Beach, QLD, in January 2004, and later in Daintree NP, QLD, in December 2014. S. Hardy and D. Johnston report spotting a family of Southern Cassowaries, race "johnsonii", between Daintree and Port Douglas, North QLD, in August 2013. D. Wilczynska reports spotting a Southern Cassowary, race "johnsonii", in Daintree NP, QLD, in March 2015. M. Eaton reports finding Southern Cassowaries, race "johnsonii", along the Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, in August 2019 and again in September 2020. A. Ross-Taylor spotted a Southern Cassowary, race "johnsonii", at Etty Bay Beach, near Innisfail, QLD, in May 2022. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours found Southern Cassowaryies, race "johnsonii", in Daintree NP, QLD, in June 2022.

Photos

Race "johnsonii"

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal portrait of a male Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Daintree NP, QLD, March 2015]

Near-frontal view of a male Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Daintree NP, QLD, March 2015]

Lateral view of a male Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, August 2019]

Lateral view of a male Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Daintree NP, QLD, March 2015]

Near-dorsal view of a male Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, August 2019]

Frontal view of an adult male Southern Cassowary in captivity

FEMALE

Close-up frontal view of a female Southern Cassowary; note the prominent, long wattles - the sunbasking lady was blissfully unaware of the bird's passage (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Etty Bay Beach, near Innisfail, QLD, May 2022]

Near-frontal view of a female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, September 2020]

Close-up near-lateral portrait of a female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Etty Bay Beach, near Innisfail, QLD, May 2022]

Near-lateral view of a female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, September 2020]

Lateral portrait of a resting female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Billabong Sanctuary, Townsville, QLD, November 2021]

Close-up lateral view of a female Southern Cassowary looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Etty Bay Beach, near Innisfail, QLD, May 2022]

Lateral view of a female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, September 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, September 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Southern Cassowary, front, adult behind (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Daintree NP, QLD, August 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Southern Cassowary (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Etty Bay Road, near Innisfail, QLD, August 2019]

Male Southern Cassowary with three chicks crossing a road (photo courtesy of S. Hardy & D. Johnston)
[Daintree to Port Douglas road, QLD, August 2013]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jun - Oct

Eggs: 2 - 5

Incubation period: 60 days

Fledging age: N/A

Eggs are incubated by the male.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Scrape

Material: Leaf lining

Height above ground: N/A

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 140 x 90 mm

Colour: Greenish brown

Shape: Elliptical

Southern Cassowary eggs have a structured surface.

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary

Pairs, or later family clans, form only during the breeding season.

Food, Diet

Southern Cassowaries are fruit-eaters.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Tue, 15 August 2023, 5:12 +00:00