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Their body is black and is covered with coarse, hair-like feathers |
|
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Their legs are short and are green/grey or brown/grey, with matching
colour feet |
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The cassowary is the only bird in the world to have any type of
protective armour: they bare a grey, helmet which protects the birds
head as it makes its swift way through the thich undergrowth of
the rainforest |
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The female Cassowary slightly larger and more brightly coloured
and more dominate (up to 1.75 m in length) |
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Although the Cassowary is a flightless bird, it is a very good swimmer |
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The Cassowary eats fleshy fruit, most of which is picked up from
the ground |
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High variation in fruit production both between seasons and between
years appears to cause movements of parts of the Cassowary population |
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The seeds of the fruit that they eat is secreted undamaged thus
the bird has an important role in the dispersal of rainforest seeds |
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They can also eat small dead marsupials and birds |
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The female Cassowary lays 3 to 6 large pale green eggs on forest
litter and may be served by a number of males during the breeding
season |
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Egg are laid, which the male Cassowary incubates the Eggs for about
2 months then takes care of the young until they reach the age of
9 months |
