Wildlife of the World
Puzzle 42 · Australasia and Zealandia · Page 68 in print
Southern Cassowary
The southern cassowary swallows large rainforest fruits whole and disperses the seeds across northern Queensland and New Guinea; some plants depend on this flightless giant for regeneration.
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A southern cassowary chick wears striped juvenile plumage.
Species reference for Southern Cassowary. The photograph does not necessarily show the population or place named in the puzzle.
Ben Keen / iNaturalist (CC0) · CC0 1.0 · Original recordImage changes
Resized and converted to JPEG for display; no subject alteration.
An adult southern cassowary shows its casque, blue neck and red wattles.
Species reference for Southern Cassowary. The photograph does not necessarily show the population or place named in the puzzle.
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0 · Original recordImage changes
Resized and converted to JPEG for display; no subject alteration.
The words
Australia
Only the southern cassowary lives in Australia.
Cape York
Two cassowary populations live in Cape York.
Casque
The helmet-like crest on its head.
The cassowary has a large greyish helmet (casque).
Cassowary
The southern cassowary feeds mostly on fallen fruit.
Casuarius
The southern cassowary is Casuarius casuarius johnsonii.
Claw
The innermost claw on each foot is elongated and very sharp.
Daintree
Some Daintree cassowaries have home ranges of about 7 km².
Dung
Cassowary dung is a ready-made fertiliser that helps seeds grow.
Queensland Government (opens a new tab) · Wet Tropics Management Authority (opens a new tab)
Helmet
The cassowary has a large greyish helmet (casque).
New Guinea
The species is also found through New Guinea.
Plumage
The body feathers are black and hair-like.
Queensland Government (opens a new tab) · Australian Museum (opens a new tab)
Ratite
The flightless birds (ratites) were among the earliest birds.
Seeds
One pile of cassowary dung can hold a kilogram of seeds.
Wattle
The red wattle hanging from the neck makes it easy to identify.
Wet Tropics
The rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics are important southern cassowary habitat.
Australian Museum (opens a new tab) · Wet Tropics Management Authority (opens a new tab)
Sources
- Southern Cassowary (source capture)Wet Tropics Management Authority
- Southern Cassowary (source capture)Australian Museum
- Southern Cassowary (source capture)Queensland Government
- Southern Cassowary (source capture)Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology