Casuariidae – Cassowaries | Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Southern Cassowary by Ian M

So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:21 NKJV)

CLASS – AVES, Order – CASUARIIFORMES, Family – Casuariidae – Cassowaries and Emu

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Latest I.O.C. Version
Species (4)

Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti)
Northern Cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus)
Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

See Cassowary from Unique Australian Animals website.

Video by Keith Blomerley of a Southern Cassowary

Southern Cassowary(Casuarius casuarius) close up bird preening

On the photos or slides, a “by” indicates one of the photographers or videographers, who have given their permission, with links on our sidebar. Please visit their sight to see many more fantastic shots, a “©©” copyright symbol indicates a photo from Creative Commons and ©WikiC is a Creative Commons photo from Wikipedia.

Photographers or Videographers used on this page from our sidebar, Photography, are:
Ian Montgomery’s Birdway
Keith Blomerly – Videographer

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The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds, in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and north-eastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the Southern Cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds, and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting serious or even fatal injuries to dogs and people.

I.O.C. Version 7.3 brought the Emu into this family, there by deleting the Dromaiidae family.

Dromaius is a genus of ratite present in Australia. There is one extant species, Dromaius novaehollandiae commonly known as the Emu.

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich.

There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia. The Emu is common over most of mainland Australia, although it avoids heavily populated areas, dense forest, and arid areas.

Some of the Family – Photos are Alphabetical down the columns: