Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bola bomb Here. There are about eighteen
Speaker 1: thousand species of birds in the world. Of those EMUs,
Speaker 1: the long limbed, long necked Australian natives are the world's
Speaker 1: second largest by height. Here's the skinny on these gangly avians.
Speaker 1: Emos are ratites, meaning they're large, flightless birds with a solid,
Speaker 1: flat stern um. They're related to other ratites found in
Speaker 1: southern hemispheric locations, the ostrich in Africa, which takes the
Speaker 1: title of the largest bird in the world, the Rhea
Speaker 1: in South America, the cassowary in Australia, and the Kiwi
Speaker 1: in New Zealand. EMUs and ostriches have the most obvious
Speaker 1: similarities with their long legs and necks. They're also both
Speaker 1: very fast runners. Imus can run up to about thirty
Speaker 1: miles or fifty kilometers per hour, but there are some
Speaker 1: differences they're tos. For example, Imus have three toes. The
Speaker 1: ostrich is the only bird with just two toes. Another
Speaker 1: major difference is their wings. Ostriches have beautiful long wings
Speaker 1: that aren't always visible because they're covering their bodies. For
Speaker 1: the article, this episode is based on how stuff works.
Speaker 1: Spoke with Eric Slovak, Assistant Curator of Birds for Smithsonian's
Speaker 1: National Zoo in Washington, d C. He explained ostriches use
Speaker 1: them when they're doing a courtship dance or when they're
Speaker 1: running really fast. They can use their wings like a
Speaker 1: boat's rudder to change direction quickly, and those wings are
Speaker 1: a necessity living around African predators because they need to
Speaker 1: be able to change direction on a dime with something
Speaker 1: like a lion chasing it. Conversely, emo wings are very small,
Speaker 1: probably just two to four inches that's five to times long.
Speaker 1: Predators are less of an issue for imus. Their main predators,
Speaker 1: dingoes are easily outrun by most emu's except juveniles. EMO
Speaker 1: height averages about five points seven feet or one eight meters.
Speaker 1: Males can wait anywhere from a hundred and ten to
Speaker 1: d and twenty pounds that's about fifty to fifty five kilos,
Speaker 1: and females typically weigh about ten pounds or four kilos
Speaker 1: more than that. Their feathers are grayish brown, but lightened
Speaker 1: during the season. Chicks have natural camouflage. Their feathers are
Speaker 1: striped in black, brown and cream to blend into tall
Speaker 1: grass and foliage. During breeding season, which is during the
Speaker 1: Australian winter months June, July and August, both male and
Speaker 1: female EMUs make loud, low grunting sounds. Once the male
Speaker 1: and female mate, and the female lays her eggs in
Speaker 1: their nest low indentation on the ground lined with leaves,
Speaker 1: grass and bark, the male takes over completely. Slovak said,
Speaker 1: males sit on the eggs and do all the incubation.
Speaker 1: When the eggs hatch, they are the sole parent. As
Speaker 1: a dat myself, I loved that about EMUs. The incubation
Speaker 1: period is fifty six days and Papa Emu doesn't eat, drink,
Speaker 1: or even poop while he sits on nest. His entire
Speaker 1: focus is on protecting the eggs. When the chicks hatch,
Speaker 1: he's well ready to show down and he shows his
Speaker 1: chicks where to get their food and water. Chicks are
Speaker 1: ready to start eating, drinking, and adventuring about twenty four
Speaker 1: to forty eight hours after they're born, but they usually
Speaker 1: hang out with their dad for about four months before
Speaker 1: striking out on their own. EMUs are only found in
Speaker 1: the wild in Australia, though at some point they may
Speaker 1: have lived in Tasmania or King Island. They are wanderers.
Speaker 1: Flocks are called mobs, and they roam everywhere, from eucalyptus
Speaker 1: forests to desert troubland to sandy plains. Thanks to their
Speaker 1: ranging tendencies, relations between EMUs and farmers haven't always been cordial.
Speaker 1: In fact, in two the Australian government launched the Emu
Speaker 1: War against the entire species and attempt to control the
Speaker 1: population by killing them with grenades and machine guns. The
Speaker 1: failed war ended with only twelve emu's killed. The government
Speaker 1: installed thousand kilometer fence that's about one thousand, six hundred
Speaker 1: miles to separate the EMUs from the grain producing areas
Speaker 1: in southwest Australia. In the wild, imus are omnivores, eating
Speaker 1: all sorts of plants in season. They'll also eat insects
Speaker 1: and small vertebrates like lizards. They eat large pebbles called
Speaker 1: gaster liths to help their gizzard grind their food. But
Speaker 1: can imus be eaten? The short answer is yes. Emu
Speaker 1: meat has been a popular food source in India and
Speaker 1: Australia four thousands of years. In many places, imus are
Speaker 1: farmed not only for meat, but for oil, leather, and feathers,
Speaker 1: and the massive egg of the emu is a dark
Speaker 1: emerald green and shell color. Weighs a little over a
Speaker 1: pound or about half a kilo, and is the equivalent
Speaker 1: of some ten chicken eggs. If you've ever wondered whether
Speaker 1: EMUs would make a good pet, the answer is it
Speaker 1: depends on the person and the emu. While attacks on
Speaker 1: humans are rare and fatality is even less common, these
Speaker 1: are quite sizeable birds, fully capable of eviscerating even large
Speaker 1: animals with their big, three clawed feet. While they're friendly
Speaker 1: and inquisitive, imus should definitely be treated with respect and caution.
Speaker 1: They need plenty of room to roam and graze, sturdy
Speaker 1: fencing at least five feet or one point five meters high,
Speaker 1: commercial rat tite pellets, proper housing in the winter that
Speaker 1: is warm and covered, and proper veterinary care, including at
Speaker 1: least an annual checkup and vaccinations for things like West
Speaker 1: Nile virus. Beyond that, Slovak said, all birds have their
Speaker 1: unique personalities, and just like humans do. I can put
Speaker 1: emu in a box and say this is all the
Speaker 1: things about EMUs, but there are definitely personality traits that
Speaker 1: come into play. There's no better example of this than
Speaker 1: Darwin and Imo that lived at Smithsonian's National Zoo. Sadly,
Speaker 1: Darwin fell ill and had to be humanely euthanized in
Speaker 1: but he lived a long and very happy life while
Speaker 1: at the National Zoo. Accord into Slovak, he said, Darwin
Speaker 1: was not food motivated. He didn't care if you had
Speaker 1: a treat or not. He just wanted to be your buddy.
Speaker 1: Darwin loved people. When you came to the exhibit, he
Speaker 1: was curious and wanted to know what you were doing,
Speaker 1: if you were mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, or
Speaker 1: changing the straw. He wanted to be with you. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article goofy looking EMUs are luggy, flightless,
Speaker 1: and very friendly on how stuff works dot Com, written
Speaker 1: by Patty res Musin. Brain Stuff is production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com
Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts for
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