Emu
Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790)
The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), also called the Common emu, is a living bird in the family Dromaiidae and the order Casuariiformes. It is a large bird with a representative adult body mass of 34.09 kg, and our sources report adult weights from 32 to 38.3 kg.
Quick facts about the emu
The emu is a terrestrial, sedentary omnivore of grassland, and checklists record it in Australia, with a geographic range of 4,231,000 km². Its eggs incubate for 56 days, clutches hold 9.5 eggs, it reaches sexual maturity at 2 years, and it is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
- Weight
- 32 kg – 38.3 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Height
- up to 1.9 msrc for Height
- Lifespan
- 16.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 56 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8.7 – 9.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the emu
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the emu live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The emu is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the emu?
The emu (; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the tallest native bird. It is the only extant member of the genus Dromaius and the third-tallest living bird after its African ratite relatives, the common ostrich and Somali ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788.
The emu has soft, brown feathers, a long neck, and long legs. It can grow up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in height. It is a robust bipedal runner that can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 48 km/h (30 mph). It is omnivorous and forages on a variety of plants and insects, and can go for weeks without eating. It drinks infrequently, but takes in copious amounts of fresh water when the opportunity arises.
Breeding takes place in May and June, and fighting among females for a mate is common. Females can mate several times and lay several clutches of eggs in one season. The male incubates the eggs; during this process he hardly eats or drinks and loses a significant amount of weight. The eggs hatch after around eight weeks, and the young are nurtured by their fathers. They reach full size after around six months, but can remain as a family unit until the next breeding season.
The emu is sufficiently common to be rated as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Despite this, some local populations are listed as endangered, with all the insular subspecies going extinct by the 1800s. Threats to their survival include egg predation by other animals (especially invasive species), roadkills and habitat fragmentation.
The emu is an important cultural icon of Australia, appearing on the coat of arms and various coinages. The bird features prominently in Indigenous Australian mythologies.
From the Wikipedia article “Emu” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emu&oldid=1382429249), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the emu sound like?
Is the emu endangered?
The emu is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the emu classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCasuariiformes
- familyDromaiidae
- genusDromaius
- SpeciesDromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790)
Synonyms Dromaius ater, Dromaius novaehollandiae rothschildi
Other names and names in other languages (42)
- Common emuEnglish
- Common emuEnglish
- Warratyiadt
- إيموArabic
- الإِيمُوArabic
- الاموArabic
- Ŋuruynbdy
- ЕмуBulgarian
- Голямо емуBulgarian
- এমুBangla
- emú comúCatalan
- emu hnědýCzech
- EmiwWelsh
- Großer EmuGerman
- ΕμούGreek
- EmuoEsperanto
- ordinara emuoEsperanto
- EmúSpanish
- Émeu d'AustralieFrench
- Émeu d’AustralieFrench
- אמוHebrew
- EmúiIcelandic
- EmùItalian
- エミューJapanese
- gugaamgankgs
- 에뮤Korean
- EmoeDutch
- emu zwyczajnePolish
- emu (zwyczajne)Polish
- ema-australianaPortuguese
- EmaPortuguese
- ЭмуRussian
- Страус эмуRussian
- emu hnedýSlovak
- navadni emuSlovenian
- Australisk emuSwedish
- นกอีมูThai
- ему австралійськийUkrainian
- Nguurruuynwrh
- murawungxdk
- 鴯鶓Chinese
- 鸸鹋Chinese
Relatives of the emu
Other species in the same genus Dromaius.
CompareEmu vs Dromaius arleyekweke
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is an emu?
The emu has a representative adult body mass of 34.09 kg. Our sources report adult weights from 32 to 38.3 kg.
What does the emu eat?
The emu is classed as an omnivore.
Is the emu endangered?
No. The emu is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does an emu live?
The emu has a lifespan of 16.6 years.
How many eggs does an emu lay?
The emu has 9.5 eggs per clutch and 1.5 clutches per year. The eggs incubate for 56 days.
What kind of animal is the emu?
The emu is a bird in the family Dromaiidae, order Casuariiformes, class Aves.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/emu
“Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/emu.
@misc{emu_2026,
title = {Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/emu},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}