Classroom lesson 路 Wildlife馃嚘馃嚭 Australia

Emus

The world's second-tallest bird - faster than you'd think

A tall, feathery emu walking across grassland

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Emus are huge, flightless birds that live across most of Australia. They are the second-tallest birds in the world (only the ostrich is taller). A grown emu can stand nearly 2 metres high - taller than most adults - and run at 50 km/h. They share Australia's coat of arms with the kangaroo.

Tell me more

Emus can't fly. They have tiny wings that they flap when they run, almost as if they want to remind themselves they used to be flying birds long, long ago. What they do have is incredibly long, strong legs. An emu's stride is over 2 metres long, and they can keep sprinting for ages.

Emus eat all sorts of things: seeds, fruit, flowers, insects and even small lizards. They swallow stones to help grind the food up inside their stomachs - a clever trick that other flightless birds use too. They drink a lot of water when they can find it, but they can also go for days without any.

Father emus do most of the parenting. The mum lays a clutch of dark green eggs the size of a small melon, and then the dad sits on the nest for about eight weeks - barely eating, barely drinking - until they hatch. The chicks have brown and cream stripes, like little furry humbug sweets, so they can hide in the long grass.

Emus are curious. If they see something new in their patch - a hat, a backpack, a hiker - they will often walk right up and have a long look. They are usually peaceful, but they like to know what's going on. Some farmers say emus are the nosiest animals in Australia.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Emus can't fly. What would you choose - to be a fast runner or a slow flyer?
  2. 02Why might striped chicks be safer than plain ones?
  3. 03Dad emus do most of the parenting. Can you think of other animals where the dads do a lot of the looking-after?
Try this

Classroom activity

Mark out a 2-metre emu stride on the playground. How many of your normal steps fit in one emu stride? Now race in 'emu strides' against a classmate doing normal steps. Who covers a chosen distance fastest?