Emus - ANIMALS AND ENGLISH

EMUS
Bird - Vertebrate - Omnivore

Male: Cock

Female: Hen

Young: Chicks

EMUS

Are Australia's largest bird - similar to an Ostrich, but smaller.
Are a member of a group of flightless birds known as Ratites.
Ratites include Kiwis, Ostriches, Cassowaries and Rheas.
Stands about 6ft tall.
Females are usually larger than the males.
Are fast runners - about 30 miles an hour.
Run fast after rain clouds in the hope of water.
Cannot fly.
Cannot walk backwards.
Are very powerful swimmers.
Can go without food for long periods of time.
Have good eyesight and hearing.
Have long necks and two sets of eyelids.
Have three toes on each foot.
Have the strongest legs among the animal kingdom.
Can defend themselves with a tremendously powerful forward kick.
Eat caterpillars, grasshoppers, flowers, fruit, seeds, burrs, lizards and small rodents.
Swallow pebbles to grind the food in their gizzards.
Live in woods, scrublands, grasslands and desert areas.
Main threats are eagles, dingoes, dogs, cats, hawks and humans.
The males incubate the eggs, generally.
Eggs hatch after about 8 weeks.
Lizards like to eat their eggs.
Live for 10+ years in the wild.