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Archive 2013 · Southern Cassowary

  
 
cadman342001
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Southern Cassowary


Whilst waiting for the Golden Bowerbird on our second trip to the bower we had a 45 minute interaction with one of the most unique birds in the world, the Southern Cassowary. A shy large flightless bird, 6 feet tall, 130-150 pounds, rather like the Emu but bigger and potentially far more dangerous. There are fewer than 2500 left in the wild.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cassowary

They are essentially a relic of the dinosaur age, have a large sharp middle toe that can disembowel you/rip your throat open or stab you with it! but generally they get a bad press and only generally attack when threatened. My wife clearly believed this as she was making herself as small as possible while I was winking at her and snapping away The male of the species raises the young and you don't want to get in between a male and it's chicks!!

The "comb" on the head is believed to be used somehow to locate other birds (they have a territory of around 16 hectares). It is also used as protection for the head - lowered when running at speed through the rainforest.

She walked around us ranging from between 8 feet to only 4 feet away before wandering off. Hence the portrait shots as I only had the 300 f4 available. Full frame on the D800E.

Here is Sir David Attenborough's BBC Natural World special about them - watch the first few minutes at least to get an idea of what this amazing creature is like.



1.



2. Too close



3. Curious



A never to be repeated experience and certainly one for the bucket list ticked off.

Andy

Edited on Sep 18, 2013 at 03:21 AM · View previous versions



Sep 18, 2013 at 01:29 AM
eyelaser
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Southern Cassowary


Simply amazing Andy....an experience for the ages that for sure. You managed some superb shots even under the treat of being disemboweled. I wonder if you even cared very much whether you saw the bowerbird after this encounter. That comb looks like its made of keratin...is it?
Thanks for sharing.
Eric



Sep 18, 2013 at 02:04 AM
tfoltz
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Southern Cassowary


Awesome! what a cool bird, excellent shots

-Tim



Sep 18, 2013 at 02:29 AM
cadman342001
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Southern Cassowary


eyelaser wrote:
Simply amazing Andy....an experience for the ages that for sure. You managed some superb shots even under the treat of being disemboweled. I wonder if you even cared very much whether you saw the bowerbird after this encounter. That comb looks like its made of keratin...is it?
Thanks for sharing.
Eric


Thanks Eric. Like I say, they do get a bad rep that is mostly unjustified so I was reasonably confident she was just interested in us, stupid people don't help by feeding them.

We were fortunate that we had already seen the bowerbird earlier but yeah, just when I thought the morning couldn't get any better..........

You're correct, the comb is made of keratin.



Sep 18, 2013 at 03:07 AM
cadman342001
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Southern Cassowary


tfoltz wrote:
Awesome! what a cool bird, excellent shots

-Tim


Thanks Tim, much appreciated.

We played peek-a-boo for 45 mins - she bent her neck to look for food on the floor of the rainforest being hidden from us temporarily by the roots of the fallen tree we were sitting on, then lifting her head, at which point I would fire off a shot or two

I there was a leaf or twig in the way I would stretch my neck to get the camera higher and she would oblige by stretching her neck to keep an eye on me.



Sep 18, 2013 at 03:12 AM
surfnron
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Southern Cassowary


Excellent Andy, and a rare treat for us. Thanx for posting ~ Ron


Sep 18, 2013 at 06:02 AM
mmarconi
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Southern Cassowary


How cool Andy, what a surprise this must have been for you and now for us. Great job on the pics and the intro/description. Really enjoyed this post

Mike



Sep 18, 2013 at 06:55 AM
cadman342001
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Southern Cassowary


surfnron wrote:
Excellent Andy, and a rare treat for us. Thanx for posting ~ Ron


Thanks Ron, no worries



Sep 18, 2013 at 07:23 AM
cadman342001
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Southern Cassowary


mmarconi wrote:
How cool Andy, what a surprise this must have been for you and now for us. Great job on the pics and the intro/description. Really enjoyed this post

Mike


Cheers Mike, it literally was my pleasure !



Sep 18, 2013 at 07:24 AM
kmunroe
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Southern Cassowary


amazing bird Andy


Sep 18, 2013 at 09:32 AM





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