The world's most dangerous bird — a large, flightless ratite of the New Guinea and Australian rainforest, armed with a dagger-like inner toe claw 12 cm long; females are larger than males and leave all parental duties to the father; the brilliant blue-and-red neck wattles serve as status signals.
The dangerous claw
Cassowaries are listed in the Guinness World Records as the most dangerous bird. Their inner toe bears a straight, dagger-like claw up to 12 cm long. Cassowaries are normally shy, but cornered or provoked birds can deliver powerful kicks with this claw, capable of causing deep lacerations. Most attacks on humans involve birds accustomed to being fed. The most vulnerable time is when a female intrudes near a male with chicks.
Role reversal
In cassowaries, females are larger and more brightly coloured than males. After laying 3–8 large green eggs, the female abandons the clutch entirely — the male incubates the eggs alone for 50 days and raises the chicks for up to 18 months with no help from the female. The female may mate with several males in a season.
The casque
The cassowary’s most distinctive feature is the bony casque on top of its head — a helmet of keratinous material over a bony core. Its function is debated: possibilities include pushing through dense vegetation, dominance display, and producing or amplifying low-frequency sounds. Cassowaries produce very low-frequency booming calls (below human hearing) that carry through dense rainforest.
Seed disperser
Cassowaries are the primary seed dispersers of many large-seeded rainforest trees in Australia and New Guinea. They swallow large fruits whole and pass viable seeds in dung far from the parent tree. In the absence of cassowaries, many tree species cannot regenerate effectively.
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Cassowary starts with C and ends with Y. Browse other animals along the same letter.
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