# Emu (*Dromaius novaehollandiae*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/emu  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 32 kg – 38.3 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Height | up to 1.9 m |
| Lifespan | 16.6 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 56 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 8.7 – 9.5 |
| Age at maturity | 23.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Casuariiformes
- family: Dromaiidae
- genus: Dromaius
- species: *Dromaius novaehollandiae* (Latham, 1790)

Synonyms: *Dromaius ater*, *Dromaius novaehollandiae rothschildi*

## Countries on record

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.

Australia

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/emu