(Squawking)
Australia, a land of diverse and often extreme habitats...
..from dramatic coastline...
..to snowy mountains...
to tropical rainforest.
Its vast expanses have produced an immense array of birdlife...
..and many species found nowhere else in the world.
One, an almost prehistoric looking creature,
almost six feet tall,
with an up to nine foot running stride.
And totally flightless.
The emu is Australia's biggest native bird.
A bird that inhabits a topsy-turvy world...
..where females call the shots...
..eggs are green,
and the men do all the work
to produce and raise tiny babies known as stripeys.
This is the story of Australia's emu.
Roaming the grasslands of Victoria in southeast Australia
are thousands of wild emus
that trek across the land in search of the verdant plains
and dry open forests that provide the best food.
Unique to Australia,
emus belong to an ancient group of flightless birds,
whose lineage can be traced back
to the time when dinosaurs walked the earth.
This particular adult male we've named Henry.
He's nomadic, frequently on the move,
spending most of the daylight hours walking and foraging...
..sharing Victoria's grasslands
with other free-ranging Australian animals
like kangaroos.
Emus are big, second only to the African ostrich...
..but can still be vulnerable
to large predators like dingoes
because they're flightless.
These earthbound birds only have tiny wings...
..and no chance of flying away.
(Squawking)
But there are some compensations.
Henry has a long neck,
giving him a good view across the land.
And above all...
..he has speed.
In a land full of danger,
a flightless bird... has got to be a fast one.
His strong legs can carry him
at over 30 miles an hour,
with the help of his powerful calf muscles.
But mostly, Henry will use his long, scaly legs
to keep on moving...
..alone or with other emus,
sometimes flocking together in search of food or water.
And during the summer months, Henry needs to start
his preparations for breeding season.
For an emu male, preparing to breed
means grabbing every chance to take in food and water.
Henry can survive a long time without water
but will drink whenever he comes upon it.
And when Henry and a fellow emu
find a small billabong full of rain,
they need to make the most of it.
Their leg joints help getting right down to the water's edge.
Emus are at home in the water and Henry's happy to stride out.
Luckily, he can also swim... if need be.
When water is in plentiful supply,
Henry can take in between two and four gallons a day.
If not disturbed,
he'll drink continuously for some time.
If there's a drought, he'll eat less
and slow his metabolism right down.
(Chirping)
Emus are omnivores, feeding on plants and insects.
Large bodies enable emus to develop large guts,
meaning that, unlike small flying birds,
they can stock up on food.
They also swallow stones
to help grind up all the plant matter they eat.
Then, once the stones have done their work,
they vomit them back up.
When they can, emus will eat soil too.
This earth is rich in potassium and sodium.
Henry makes the most of the opportunity
to supplement his diet.
He's building up as much body fat as he can...
..because for an emu male,
mating season signals lean times ahead.
Emus start pairing up
around the Australian summer solstice in December.
But while the males focus on fattening themselves up...
..the females are taking a different tack.
Female emus are usually larger than males...
..and they're the ones to choose a partner.
And when they do, they can get feisty.
A female won't think twice
about trying to repel the competition,
or a suitor...
(Growls)
..by chasing and even kicking to get her way.
(Distant squawking and chirping)
(Makes drumming sound)
Making a drumming sound by filling her throat with air,
the female calls to choose her mate.
(Makes drumming sound)
(Drumming sound)
Henry has found himself a partner.
As darkness falls,
they begin the moves of a mating ritual.
Circling his partner,
Henry sways his body and neck from side to side...
..rubbing his breast against her rump.
But even after fighting for a mate,
it's not uncommon for the female to reject his overtures.
But she squats down, signaling her acceptance...
..and allows Henry to mate her.
They'll mate like this every day or two for a few weeks.
(Cuckoo calls)
And every second or third day,
the female will lay an egg...
..each time producing a vibrant, well camouflaged green egg,
the size of a human hand,
and weighing well over a pound.
A clutch of eggs can range in number from five to 15,
depending on the weather conditions,
with fewer laid in times of drought.
(Cuckoo calls)
(Birdsong)
When the pair have a clutch of around half a dozen eggs,
they will be ready to incubate.
But the female has got no intention of doing that.
She's ready to turn the tables on Henry
and abandon the nest.
As she heads off, she raises her tail feathers
to show that she's ready to mate again...
..with someone else.
Meanwhile, it's lucky
that Henry spent plenty of time fattening himself up.
Because as soon as the eggs are laid...
..it's his job to sit on them.
(Wind rushes)
For the next 56 days, come rain or shine...
..Henry will stay put on the eggs.
(Squawking and chirping)
For almost two months he won't eat, drink,
or even leave for a toilet break.
Relying on his carefully accumulated stores of body fat,
he'll lose around a fifth of his body weight.
Henry settles down for the long haul.
Luckily, he's well equipped to deal with
whatever the weather throws at him.
(Wind rushes)
He's got secondary eyelids, called nictitating membranes,
to protect his eyes from dust if the wind picks up.
Henry's feathers also help him keep his temperature steady.
The black tips absorb large amounts of heat from the sun,
but the rest of his plumage
then keeps the heat away from his skin.
Only about two per cent of the solar radiation
that hits an emu gets through to the skin.
But when the days are sometimes cooler
during the Australian winter,
Henry's feathers will also keep him warm.
(Thunder rumbles)
(Crash of thunder)
A double quill with two feathers per follicle
helps repel the water when it hails or rains.
(Rainfall)
(Thunder rumbles)
(Birdsong)
But Henry's not the only emu dad hard at work.
Nesting nearby is Whitey,
an unusual emu with a distinctive white head.
Even though he's a much older male,
he's got a bumper crop of eggs.
Emus can mate up until the age of 20.
He knows only to get up when it's time to turn the eggs.
The part of the egg closest to the sitter will get warmer,
so turning them over makes sure
that the eggs are evenly incubated.
Rotating them around a dozen times a day
will ensure proper embryonic development.
Eggs turned to his satisfaction,
he gently lowers his 100-pound body back down.
Whitey is a diligent dad.
He knows he must stay on the nest at all costs.
Unable to nest in a treetop like a smaller bird,
he lays his head low to the ground,
making himself as inconspicuous as possible
to potential predators.
While few animals would attack a fully-grown emu,
predators like a fox or a goanna,
a type of carnivorous lizard,
would relish one of these eggs.
Whitey lays low.
The eggs' best protection comes from having
the solid body of their dad on top of them...
..keeping them warm and out of harm's way.
All the time these devoted dads spent fattening
themselves up earlier in the year pays off now
and there's no chance the eggs will be left defenseless.
While fatherhood's a central part of the male emu's life,
things don't always go to plan.
This young emu is a first-time nester.
He's chosen a good spot, under a tree,
protected from the wind.
But unlike Henry, he has just one, solitary egg.
It could be that he didn't manage to breed this year
and he found an abandoned egg.
Having carefully positioned his egg...he sits.
But unlike the older hands,
he doesn't seem to realize that he needs to stick at it.
If eggs are left unattended for too long,
the embryo will die.
But more urgently, if left unguarded,
the eggs are easy pickings for predators.
It's vital that dad stays put.
And he doesn't.
Instead of just sitting,
he tries to disguise his lone egg.
This first-time dad is struggling.
On the other side of the woods,
Henry is keeping his eggs warm and safe.
It's his third breeding season...
..and, like Whitey,
he knows he's just got to wait...
..and wait.
But back across the woods...
..evidence of a predator.
The young emu left his lone egg unguarded for too long.
And his first attempt at fatherhood is over.
Eight weeks later,
Henry's eggs show the first signs of movement.
The little creatures must break through
a thick layer of tough membrane and shell.
It's very hard going.
Inside the chick swivels, rotating its legs
and scratching the shell with its tiny beak.
By fighting its way out of the shell,
the chick draws its yolk sac up into its body
where it can be reabsorbed.
In this highly vulnerable state,
they're rich pickings for any passing predator,
so the tiny babies have got to get up and move
as soon as they can.
The eggs won't all hatch at once,
although they tend to hatch within two days of one another.
The eggs that were laid later experience higher temperatures
and develop more rapidly.
Henry needs to keep his newborns warm and safe
while waiting for the last eggs to hatch.
Meanwhile, Whitey has also been rewarded for all his hard work
with a batch of beautiful babies, known as stripeys.
(Chirping)
But his job is far from over.
In a day or so, once all the eggs have hatched,
both his and Henry's chicks
will be ready to leave the nest.
But they won't be leaving their fathers' sides.
Even though the stripeys will reach full size
in around six months...
..they will live with their dads for up to a year...
..learning the skills they need to survive.
And keeping the stripeys safe is tough.
(Chirping)
Henry's chicks won't need any food or water
for their first few days as they'll be living off
their reabsorbed yolk sac.
But after that, they'll need to find food for themselves.
The stripeys are all keen to explore,
so Henry's taking them out for a foraging lesson.
And he needs to find food for himself, too.
They're tiny, only about six inches high,
and still very vulnerable.
They need to stay together as a group
and keep close to Dad.
Everything the stripeys learn about this exciting new world
will be under Henry's guidance.
It's a big adventure, checking their surroundings,
pecking for insects,
always returning to Dad and each other for protection.
But however vigilant Henry is,
keeping four youngsters in line while foraging for food
himself proves a challenge.
(Makes drumming noise)
Henry makes regular drumming noises
to draw the chicks back to him.
(Chirping)
But one separates from the group.
Suddenly realizing she's alone, she gives out a distress call.
(High-pitched chirp)
This high-pitched sound can be heard
for at least 40 feet,
even through thick, tall grass.
(High-pitched chirp)
(High-pitched chirping)
The other chicks reply, to let her know where they are.
Henry can't find his lost chick anywhere.
The longer they're separated,
the more vulnerable she becomes.
The Australian bush is full of predators.
A well-camouflaged dingo can lurk in the undergrowth
and move at high speed.
And is able to take down a fully-grown emu.
A goanna...
..a carnivorous, predatory lizard
with sharp teeth and claws,
can also move quickly and take out a small chick.
Larger species of goanna can be as much as eight feet long.
It can unhinge its jaw to eat a small animal whole.
The chick is highly vulnerable.
(High-pitched chirp)
Unable to find her way back, the chick is becoming frantic.
(High-pitched chirp)
(Wind rushes)
The wind has picked up,
perhaps making it hard for her to hear the others.
(Chirping)
(Distant chirping)
(Chirping)
Despite Henry's persistent attempts at finding her...
..it's too late.
It seems that shock or exhaustion have got to her.
But Henry's not the only dad facing tough times.
Across the wood, another emu, Gerry,
is also out and about with his new chicks.
(Chirping)
And one has also separated from the family group.
Birds of prey circle overhead.
The wedge-tailed eagle, or eagle hawk,
with its unmistakable tail shape,
is the largest bird of prey in Australia.
With a wingspan of more than 7.5 feet,
it uses sophisticated binocular eyesight
to identify prey from great heights...
..and can attack animals even as large as kangaroos.
Small birds are easy pickings.
(High-pitched chirp)
Gerry's chick lets out a distress call.
(High-pitched chirp)
..which alerts the other chicks.
(High-pitched chirp)
But she seems to be going round in circles.
(High-pitched chirp)
(Chirping)
Gerry searches for her,
trying to zero in on her position.
But her camouflage stripes work too well
and it's hard to spot her through the undergrowth.
And then she picks up the reassuring call.
(High-pitched chirping)
She runs in the direction of the piercing sounds...
(Chirping)
..and is safely reunited with her family.
(Distant squawking and chirping)
While Henry's facing life and death with his young...
..the stripeys' mom is far away.
She doesn't trouble herself with the wellbeing
of the lives she's created.
Like many other females,
she's enjoying life on her own.
Moving around...
..on the lookout for possible new mates.
Doing her bit for the emu population.
(Wind howls)
(Birdsong)
A week later and Henry's remaining stripeys are thriving.
Henry patrols carefully,
keeping a lookout for trouble.
He's taking the chicks for a drink of water.
(Chirping)
He goes in for a drink
so the chicks can follow his lead.
Emus prefer to be on firm ground while drinking,
rather than on rocks or mud.
If they sense danger,
they need to be ready for a speedy getaway.
Drinking comes to Henry's chicks quite naturally.
But that's not the only thing they know how to do.
Emus are strong swimmers.
As nomadic birds, they need to stay on the move,
crossing any terrain,
so they can swim across rivers whenever they need to,
using their muscular legs to propel them.
The tiny stripeys are keen to get in some practice.
(Wind rushes)
In the trees above, a flock of galahs,
or rose-breasted cockatoos, look on.
Emu chicks grow quickly
and put on about two pounds a week.
And they need to take every opportunity
to forage for food.
They eat any small insects they can find,
including small larvae and ants.
As well as the insects,
the muddy puddle seems to be a big draw for the stripeys.
Emus wallow in mud
to help cool them down and to clean their feathers.
Mud bathing can also help protect the emus from insects...
..killing any that are in their feathers
and providing a barrier to prevent others from settling.
One little stripey might have
protected himself well against the insects,
but he seems to have overdone the wallowing.
His legs are so heavily plastered in mud
he can barely totter along, and now he's exhausted.
Emu stripeys need regular naps when young.
So, while his siblings still have energy for feeding...
..he has to sit it out and have a snooze.
The chicks will grow quickly and learn more day by day.
Within three months they'll lose their vivid stripey markings.
After a year they'll have the plumage of adult emus,
though they won't be ready to breed
until they're nearly two.
At this age, they're known as blackheads.
They may look more like adults
but they're still playful.
But Henry's stripeys
have still got a long way to go before that.
And their dad will be there every step of the way.
He'll be on hand until they're ready to go off
to raise families of their own...
..and become the next generation of very big birds
to roam wild Australia.
♪♪