General Information

The Southern Cassowary is a large flightless bird. It is known to act as shy and secretive birds of the deep forest disappearing long before a human knows that they are there. Recently, they have also been observed to attack humans, though this usually only occurs in self-defense when humans intrude upon the birds' territory or cause them to feel threatened.
 
Physical Description

The cassowary is black with hard and stiff plumage, a brown casque, blue face and neck, red nape and two red wattles hanging down its throat. Its three toed feet are thick and powerful, equipped with a lethal dagger-like claw on the inner toe. It is the largest member of the Cassowary family and the second heaviest bird on earth, after the ostrich, weighing up to 187 lbs. and 74 inches. The plumage is sexually monomorphic, but the female is dominant and larger with a longer casque and brighter colored bare parts. When the bird is immature, it has plain brown plumage.

Diet

The Cassowary forages on the forest floor eating fruit. They also enjoy eating fungi, snails, insects, frogs, snakes, and other small animals.

Habitat

The Southern Cassowary is distributed in tropical rainforests of Aru and Seram Islands of Indonesia, New Guinea and northeastern Australia.

Reproduction

The Southern Cassowary is a solitary bird that pairs only during breeding season. The male builds a nest on the ground and actually incubates the eggs and raises the chicks himself.