Emu and chicks, Murray-Sunset National Park, Victoria

 

Emu, Murray-Sunset NP, Victoria

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} While travelling through the Murray-Sunset National Park during our holiday last year we disturbed a male Emu with three chicks. 

I was quick enough to get a photo of the male, but the chicks were too quick for me and disappeared into the bushy undergrowth before I could photograph them..

For those readers who may not know, the male Emu is the one who sits on the eggs once the female has finished laying the clutch. The female lays between five and eleven eggs in one clutch. Once hatched, the male then cares for the chicks for up the eighteen months.