Dromaius

Dromaius is a genus of Casuariiformes birds of the family Dromaiidae known colloquially as emu. They are large, flightless birds (ratites). Its natural habitat is on the continent of Oceania; At present only one species survives, the common emu, which is the second largest bird, after the ostrich.

Features

Its plumage is brownish-grey, with a distinctive pale blue throat. They are omnivorous birds that feed on insects and seeds. They were very common, but during the last century their populations were decimated, since the European man, when colonizing this continent, discovered that this bird was incompatible with the agriculture that he intended to develop. A curiosity that this bird has is that its eggs, unlike those of other birds, are dark green.

Taxonomy

These birds were classified in their own family, Dromaiidae, and were later included, along with the cassowaries, in the family Casuaridae. They are now reclassified in the family Dromaiidae.

Today only one species survives, Dromaius novaehollandiae, which in turn has three living subspecies and one extinct: the Tasmanian emu. The other two extinct emu species are the King Island emu (Dromaius ater), extinct in 1822, and the Kangaroo Island emu (Dromaius baudinianus) extinct in 1920.

Captive animals in the zoo of Córdoba (Argentina)