Trivia question for Mar-01-2011
Olivia’s turn and I think she picked this flightless bird for its colors, let’s see how you do with her questions today: The inner toe of these birds has evolved into a long “dagger-like” claw which makes it a formidable weapon.
They are experts at camouflaging their nests, so much so that they are rarely ever found. In fact egg collectors have offered large sums of money for a complete clutch.
These guys are so shy, that they immediately hide when they detect a human approaching, consequently, observation of these guys in the wild is difficult. These birds are distributed throughout mountain forests of New Guinea, New Britain and Yapen Island, at elevations up to 10,800 ft. Its diet consists mainly of fallen fruits and small animals, and insects.
So here are Olivia’s questions: Tell us what the helmet-like casque on its head is primarily used for and also tell us how this bird got its name.
Good Luck 😉
Answer:
A special congratulations to both Arkte Spirit and Natalie for both being fairly correct in their answers. The flightless bird we featured is actually a Dwarf Cassowary.
The Dwarf Cassowary are reportedly only found in mountain forests of New Guinea, New Britain and Yapen Island. The hard surface on their head may have at sometime helped with their hearing but in today’s version it merely aids to push away branches etc as it passes through the thick brush (sort of like a Bark-Guard which is used during off-road motorcycling).
The Dwarf Cassowary, also known as the Bennett’s Cassowary, Little Cassowary, Mountain Cassowary, or Mooruk, is the smallest of the three species of cassowaries. The scientific name commemorates the Australian naturalist George Bennett. He was the first scientist to examine these birds after a few were brought to Australia aboard a ship. Recognising them as representing a new species of cassowary, he sent specimens back to England where this was confirmed. Here is more on these prehistoric looking birds: Dwarf Cassowary
Thanks so much for playing along 😉
