Avise's Birds of the World

Northern Cassowary
Casuarius unappendiculatus

Native Range: Australian Region

Notes: Cassowarys are large flightless birds related to othe ratite birds such as ostriches and rheas; they are native to New Guinea and parts of northeastern Australia; they have powerful legs and feet on which they walk about on the ground in the forest understory; the Northern Cassowary has a large shieldlike protuberance on top of its head and large red wattles hanging down from its blue neck; the body plumage is black with downy-like feathers.