Emu - emu (English spelling)

A bird of the family Emu, order Struthionica, class of Aves. It is written in kanji as . It is a large ratite, the second largest living bird after the ostrich. It is about 2 meters long, 1.5 to 1.8 meters high, and weighs 36 to 54 kilograms. Its body is dark gray-brown, and its face and neck are bare and blue. It is similar to the cassowary, but it does not have the helmet-like horny protrusions on its head. It was distributed in the Australian continent and Tasmania, but is extinct in Tasmania and is rare even in the populous eastern part of Australia. It lives in grasslands and wastelands mixed with shrubs, and its main diet is seeds, buds, and berries, but it also eats a lot of insects. Its wings have degenerated, so it cannot fly. It can run at a maximum speed of 40 to 48 kilometers per hour, and is also a good swimmer. It lays 7 to 12 eggs per clutch in a depression in the ground, with only leaves and twigs laid in the nest, and the male incubates the eggs alone. Both males and females take care of the chicks. The incubation period is 58 to 61 days. In the early days of settlement, their meat and eggs were used for food, and their fat was used for lamp oil. They also trample fields and eat grains, so until recently, rewards were paid to exterminate them, but now there are protected areas. They are also kept and bred in zoos around the country.

[Hiroyuki Morioka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鳥綱ダチョウ目エミュー科の鳥。漢字ではと書く。大形の走鳥類で、現生の鳥ではダチョウに次いで大きい。全長約2メートル、頭高1.5～1.8メートル、体重36～54キログラム。体は暗灰褐色で、顔と頸側(けいそく)は皮膚が裸出して青い。ヒクイドリに似ているが、頭上に冑(かぶと)状の角質突起がない。オーストラリア大陸とタスマニア島に分布したが、タスマニアでは絶滅し、人口の多い東部オーストラリアでもまれである。低木を交えた草原や荒れ地にすみ、種子、芽、漿果(しょうか)などを主食としているが、昆虫類もかなり食べる。翼は退化し、飛ぶことはできない。最高時速40～48キロメートルで走り、泳ぎもうまい。巣は地面のくぼみに葉や小枝をすこし敷いただけで、1腹7～12個の卵を産み、雄だけで抱卵する。雛(ひな)の世話は雌雄でする。抱卵期間は58～61日。開拓の初期には、肉と卵は食用に、脂肪はランプの油として利用された。また畑を踏み荒らしたり、穀物を食べるために、最近まで報奨金を払って駆除していたが、現在では保護区が設けられている。各地の動物園でも飼われ繁殖している。

［森岡弘之］

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