Northern Cassowary

Northern Cassowary
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Casuariiformes
Family:	Casuariidae
Genus:	Casuarius
Species:	C. unappendiculatus
Binomial name
Casuarius unappendiculatus (Blyth, 1860)[2]
Distribution of the Northern Cassowary

The Northern Cassowary, Casuarius unappendiculatus, also known as the Single (One)-wattled Cassowary ^[2] or Gold(en)-neck(ed) Cassowary, is a large, stocky flightless bird.

Taxonomy

It's binomial name Casuarius unappendiculatus, can be broken down to Casuarius is kesuari Malay for cassowary. unappendiculatus means unus, one, appendicis, appendage, -culus, diminutive, and -atus, provided with: cassowary provided with one small appendage, referring to the single wattle.^[3] Officially, there are no sub-species, however, some authors list several sub-species.^[4][5]

Edward Blyth first identified the Northern Cassowary from a specimen from an aviary located in Calcutta, India., in 1860.^[2]

Description

It has hard and stiff black plumage, blue facial skin and a casque on top of the head. It has a bright red or yellow colored neck and wattle. The feet are huge and strong with long, dagger-like claw on its inner toe. The sexes are similar. The male, at 37 kilograms (82 lb), is smaller than female, at 58 kilograms (130 lb). These birds are between 165–175 cm (65–69 in) in height.^[2]

Phylogeny

Casuariidae is the family of the Northern Cassowary. There are only four members of this family, three of them are Cassowary’s, and the other member is the only remaining species of Emu. As you can probably guess from the above information, all four species of bird are quite similar. Emu’s were formerly classified in a different family, until it was decided that they are alike enough to the Cassowary’s that they could be classified in the same family. All four members of the Casuariidae family are large and also flightless birds. The Northern Cassowary shares an analogous feature with the Aptenodytes forsteri, also known as The Emperor Penguin. The Northern Cassowary and the Emperor Penguin are indeed from separate families, though both of them possess wings, but incidentally cannot fly. The structure is the same; a forearm and finger-like bones that are covered by their wing. Although the two species are incredibly dissimilar, this similarity between them serves the same function. The Northern Cassowary and the Emu share homologous features. For example, both the Northern Cassowary and the Emu have a blue patch of colour on their face/neck, but the functions of these differ. The Emu’s patch of fur is of a paler colour, and is used as a form of camouflage where it is located. The Northern Cassowary’s patch of blue is brighter, and is used for attracting mates.

Range and habitat

The Northern Cassowary is distributed and endemic to coastal swamp and lowland rainforests of northern New Guinea and the islands of Yapen,^[6] Batanta and Salawati.^[7] They prefer elevations below 490 m (1,610 ft).^[2]

Breeding Population and Trends^[7]

Location	Population	Trend
Northern Papua New Guinea	Unknown	Declining
Yapen	Unknown	Declining
Batanta	Unknown	Declining
Salawati	Unknown	Declining
Waigeo	Unknown	Declining
Total	2,500 to 10,000	Declining

Behavior

As with other cassowaries, it is a shy and solitary bird. Their diet consists mainly of fruits ^[2] and small animals. They make grunting and hissing sounds, like other cassowaries.^[7]

In breeding season, the polygamous female lays three to five green eggs on a well camouflaged nest prepared by male, she leaves the nest and eggs to find another mate. The male raises the chicks alone for about nine months.

Conservation

Due to ongoing habitat lost and overhunting in some areas, the Northern Cassowary is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,^[1] with hunting being the biggest threat.^[7] Native people use the bones and eggs, and take the chicks to be raised for meat. As logging opens up more areas of the forest, hunting will be more of a problem.^[1][2] Their occurrence range is 186,000 km² (72,000 sq mi) and a 2000 estimate placed their numbers at 9300.^[7]

Gallery

• Head and neck
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Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} BirdLife International (2008)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)
3. ^ Gotch, A. F. (1995)
4. ^ Avibase
5. ^ Brands, S. (2008)
6. ^ Clements, J (2007)
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} BirdLife International (2008)(a)

References

• Avibase
• BirdLife International (2008). Casuarius unappendiculatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 05 November 2008.
• BirdLife International (2008(a)). "Northern Cassowary - BirdLife Species Factsheet". Data Zone. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=6&m=0. Retrieved 06 Feb 2009. 
• Brands, Sheila (Aug 14 2008). "Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification, Casuarius unappendiculatus". Project: The Taxonomicon. http://www.taxonomy.nl/Main/Classification/51274.htm. Retrieved Feb 04 2009. 
• Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World (6 ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978 0 8014 4501 9. 
• Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Cassowaries". In Hutchins, Michael. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2 ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 75–77, 80. ISBN 0 7876 5784 0. 
• Gotch, A.F. (1995) [1979]. "Cassowaries". Latin Names Explained. A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals. London: Facts on File. pp. 178–179. ISBN 0 8160 3377 3. 

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List
• Red Data Book
• Northern Cassowary videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection