The Captivating Cassowary Trivia Quiz

Answer: the male only

The male cassowary takes over as soon as the female lays the eggs and leaves. He incubates the eggs for approximately 50 days and raises them for between 9 and 18 months. He is a very devoted father, fiercely protecting the chicks, to the point of extreme aggression.

The father teaches them to find food and water, to discern what is edible, to navigate the rainforest, recognize danger, and avoid predators.

Answer: vibrant green

Cassowary eggs are an amazing bright green or sometimes a blue-green. The colour is due to a pigment, biliverdin, which makes the eggs an unusual fluorescent green. When first laid, the eggs tend to be at their absolute brightest but, as they age and are exposed to the elements, the colour can fade over time.

The bright green allows the eggs to blend with the lush vegetation of the tropical rainforest floor where the nest is located. Cassowary eggs are the third largest of all bird eggs, weighing approximately 580 to 650 grams (1.3 to 1.4 lb) with only ostrich and emu eggs being larger.

Answer: False

No, cassowaries are completely flightless. They are known as ratites, a diverse group of large, flightless birds. Like all ratites, cassowaries possess a flat sternum that lacks a keel, the bony ridge anchor point for flight muscles. Cassowaries do have small, vestigial wings with no flight feathers. The primary function of these wings is to provide protection as the bird moves through the dense vegetation.

Cassowaries are very agile on the ground, however, and can run quickly, up to 50 km (30 mi) an hour. They can jump over 2 metres (7 ft) in height and manoeuvre swiftly through thick underbrush.

Answer: the female

The fact that female cassowaries are larger and brighter than the males is due to an interesting sex role reversal in their mating system. The traits that attract female animals to males, i.e. larger, brighter, prominent features, are selected for in female cassowaries.

A female who is larger and brighter than her peers is more likely to out compete other females, increasing her reproductive success. Female cassowaries can be well over 182 cm (6 ft) tall, and weigh up to 68/kg (150 lbs). Males, on the other hand, are approximately 160 cm (5.5 ft) tall and weigh between 27-55 kg (60 to 120 lbs).

Answer: black

A cassowary's main body is covered in black, dense, hair-like feathers that look like fur. These dark feathers provide excellent camouflage in the shadowy undergrowth of the dark rainforest. Their feathers are uniquely adapted for a ground-dwelling life in their sharp, thorny environment.

The feathers serve several functions such as thermal regulation, protection, camouflage, insulation, and water management, rather than flight.

Answer: most plant toxins

Cassowaries have a mix of stomach enzymes and a very active liver all of which help break down and neutralize toxins before they are absorbed into the bloodstream in dangerous amounts. In addition, a cassowary's digestive system is short, so food passes through it quite quickly, lessening the amount of time that toxins can be absorbed through the gut lining.

Answer: True

Yes, they can be. Some people actually consider cassowaries to be the world's most dangerous bird species. Although they are reclusive, solitary, and shy, cassowaries have the ability to become very aggressive if they are cornered or feel threatened.

Cassowaries have long, strong, muscular legs with sharp claws. Their powerful kicks can break bones, and the middle of their three toes has a dagger-like claw that is 10-12 cm (4-5 in) long. That claw is capable of disembowelling an adult human. There have been several reports of cassowaries inflicting horrible injuries and even death to humans, although the latter is rare.

Answer: a helmet-like structure on their heads

The casque is a keratin covered bony structure on the top of the head. It has the main function of thermoregulation. The casque has a substantial network of blood vessels. During hot weather, the blood flow to the casque increases, allowing the heat to dissipate into the environment. During colder weather, the blood flow to the casque decreases to conserve heat.

Answer: fruit

Cassowaries are primarily frugivores (fruit eaters) despite their very fierce appearance. They eat fruit that has fallen to the ground and, by doing so, they play an important role in seed dispersal. Their digestive system processes the fruit, removes the pulp, and then excretes the intact seeds in large piles of droppings which provides rich fertilizer for the seeds. In addition, cassowaries travel several kilometres before defecating, thus ensuring the seeds are protected from competition, and promoting the rich diversity of the rainforest.

In addition to fruit, cassowaries will eat carrion, small mammals, insects, snails, frogs, and fungi, although their main diet is fruit.

Answer: True

Yes, despite their huge size and lack of webbed feet, cassowaries are very good swimmers. In their rainforest home, there are swamps, rivers, creeks, and streams, which cassowaries need to access for drinking, cooling off, and bathing. They also need to swim across these bodies of water to forage for food and to escape danger. Cassowaries have even been seen swimming in the ocean. Remarkable for enormous, flightless land birds!