Eeeeeemmmmmmuuuuu

Dromaius novaehollandiae

The Emu. Such a glorious creature. Such a charming face.

Or maybe not.

To celebrate my first post in this blog, here are ten facts about this somewhat magnificent bird that you may find interesting*.

1. Emus’ bones and joints are very similar to dinosaurs’.
2. The emu has a knife-like nail on their toes which is used in kicking away predators
3. Emus are the only birds with calf muscles
4. Emus have two sets of eyelids, one for blinking and one to keep the dust out.
5. The first occurrence of genetically identical bird twins was discovered in the emu.
6. More than 600 places in Australia are named after the emu.
7. The name emu is, surprisingly, not an Aboriginal word. It appears to come from an old Arabic word that means "large bird."
8. Emus are the second largest bird in the world after the ostrich.
9. Emus check their droppings for undigested seeds, which they pick out and eat again.
10. The male emu’s call is said to sound like “e-mooooo”.

That’s all for today, I guess. Watching Glasswing Butterfly and Blobfish’s little rivalry unfold entertains me, so I’ll probably be back eventually.

*Then again, you may not.

sources:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-emu.html

http://www.10-facts-about.com/Emus/id/1024

http://www.findfast.org/facts-about-emus.htm

http://switchzoo.com/profiles/emu.htm

http://www.planetozkids.com/oban/animals/facts-emu.htm

The Emu