Howdy, friends. Boy, I tell you what, I’ve been seeing a little more of the news lately and we live in what I’ll generously call infuriating times. I was mapping out a trip recently and found out that a couple of google-affiliated products have reverted to calling Richmond Highway (US1 between Richmond, VA and Arlington, VA) the Jefferson Davis Highway. A quick news search turned up nothing, so I’m assuming this is just more cowardly obeying in advance on the part of our tech oligarchs. The highway was renamed to no longer honor a traitor when the Democrats took the VA statehouse in 2022, and this does not appear to have officially changed.
Anyway, birds. This week we are back to suggestions from my dad. He recommended the cassowary, and because there are several flavors thereof, I went with the northern cassowary. This bird lives on northern coasts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, where it lives in coastal swamps and lowland forests. It is really committed to sea level, rarely venturing higher than 490 m (1,610 ft)l. The fact that it has to walk rather than fly might be a part of that. The cassowary is large and flightless. The males weigh between 30 and 37 kg (66 to 82 lb),and the females average out at 58 kg (128 lb). The birds are 1.5–1.8 m (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 11 in) in height. They also have a big claw on their inner toe. This is a bird big and strong enough to knock you down and put you within easy slicing range of its velociraptor-like natural defenses.
Despite its formidable size and ass-kicking potential, the cassowary is a shy and solitary bird. Its deep black feathers make for good camouflage in the dense forests it inhabits. The birds briefly give up their solitary lifestyle to mate. The male builds a concealed nest and after laying her eggs, the female leaves to find another mate. The male will then brood over the eggs alone for seven weeks or so until the chicks hatch. Once they do, the male will raise them alone for about nine months until they are ready to go out into the world and be terrifying dinosaur birds on their own.
Northern cassowaries eat berries, fruits and small animals, and have been observed occasionally eating carrion. They will also eat their own droppings, since they often contain undigested berries that could use a second pass around. Their bright yellow neck and blue face are used to attract a mate, and there doesn’t appear to be much sexual dimorphism aside from size. Both males and females have the brightly colored head and neck parts and the prominent growth at the top of their head, called a casque. These structures, which appear on several animals, can serve a variety of purposes, including telling individuals apart, identifying suitable mates, for fighting with and to increase bite strength. In the cassowary, the casque is used for thermal regulation. It helps dissipate heat or bottle it in as needed, and cassowaries have been seen dunking their heads in water during heatwaves. Casques are the most interesting thing I found this week, I will be circling back to do more research later, and will include a link below if you feel like learning along with me. Finally, the northern cassowary is rated as of least concern. It has a wide range and estimates put its population at around 10,000 individuals. Special hat tip this week to “All You Need is Biology dot wordpress dot com,” which is the source of the impressive picture below. Have a good weekend, everyone, and remember to buy spices while you can.
Links: https://tinyurl.com/bp4rvhjs, https://tinyurl.com/5n7unrrx, https://tinyurl.com/3vd4w9jk