A really big bird

- in the far north of Australia the cassowary plays a central role in shaping the rain forest.

Today I found an interesting article at national geographics about this very big bird. 

 

Detail of a Southern Cassowary head - picture wikipedia

• About cassowaries at national geographics by writer Olivia Judson
• German version at national geographics
• Photo gallery at national geographics by Photograph Christian Ziegler
• Video - Dungsnuffling to find Cassuwaries - at national geographics

The cassowaries (IPA: /,kæsɵwæri/) are ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands, and northeastern Australia. 
There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the Southern Cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed on the fruit of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree Ryparosa were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%).
Grown  Cassowaries can be up to 1.70 meters high and over 60 kilograms. However, cassowaries hold their head straight, the protective function of the helmet will only occur with bowed head, so they look smaller than they are. A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that is 125 millimetres (5 in) long.

(Read more on Wikipedia).

A road sign in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

They then studied 140 cases of cassowary mortality and found that motor vehicle strikes accounted for 55% of them, and dog attacks produced another 18%.

 

See this video on YouTube - BBC Natural World - Cassowaries

On the ground in front of me there’s a large round pile of what looks like moist purple mud. It’s roughly the volume of a baseball cap, and it’s studded with berries and seeds—more than 50. Some of the seeds are larger than an avocado stone.
I kneel down to look more closely. Putting my nose just a couple of inches away, I take a sniff. It smells of fruit mixed with a whiff of vinegar. There’s also a hint of that mouth-puckering, astringent flavor you get from strong black tea. Peculiar. But not unpleasant. 

What is it? It’s a bird dropping. A big bird dropping. From a big bird.
I stand up and look around. I’m in the Daintree Rainforest, two hours’ drive up the coast from the seaside city of Cairns, in the far north of Australia. Here and there, shafts of sunlight fall through the canopy, dappling the ground. On a tree beside me, I spot a Boyd’s forest dragon—a handsome lizard with a crest on its head and spikes down its spine. Somewhere nearby, insects are singing. But of a big bird—no sign. 

Read more on national geographics by writer Olivia Judson

Have a nice day

Constanze Hoffmann

Pitcairn

- where the descendants of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty are living

On 17th  and 18th march I was at the pitcairn islands with the Expeditioncruiseship MS Hanseatic. On 17 th we made ​​a boat tour along the coast of Ducie Island and on the 18 th March we went to Pitcairn. The Pitcairn Islands officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, form a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British Overseas Territory. The four islands – named Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno – are spread over several hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 18 square miles (47 km²). Only Pitcairn, the second largest and measuring about 2 miles (3.2 km) across, is inhabited.

The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians (or Polynesians), who accompanied them, an event retold in numerous books and films.

• Among the links on this blog you will find explanations from Wikipedia and links to other websites
• Explorers journal from National Geographic
• Here you can read all Pitcairn Islands Expedition Blogs from National Geographic
• Mutiny of the Bounty / Wikipedia 

News from Pitcairn (Text Tourism Quarterly III)

The world renown National Geographic Society and the Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy project are working in collaboration with the Pitcairn community to assess the condition of Pitcairn Islands’ marine life and to help conservation of its resources. 

In March -April 2012 a National Geographic Expedition to the Pitcairn Islands, including remote Ducie and Oeno - picture perfect coral atolls with turquoise lagoons - and Pitcairn’s World Heritage site, Henderson Island, a got underway.

 

The expedition is in partnership with the Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy to explore, survey and help protect Pitcairn Islands' pristine waters, one of the last wild places in the ocean. 

The 13 person team of scientists and filmmakers visited each island, scuba diving in the shallows and use cutting-edge cameras to explore the deep. High definition cameras and a futuristic mini-helicopter, built by National Geographic's remote imaging department, have already provided incredible previously unseen images of one of the most unique and untouched marine environments in the world. 

The Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy and National Geographic are currently working with the people of Pitcairn to help them assess the science and marine health of Pitcairn's waters and the potential costs and benefits of establishing a vast marine reserve in Pitcairn waters. 

Pitcairn Islands Tourism Coordinator, Heather Menzies, considers this work to be incredibly valuable, "We have increasing enquiries about our other islands. With the Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy Project and National Geo-graphic’s assistance we will be better placed in carefully balancing sustainable island heritage tourism with conservation and economic development. We hope to be able to offer limited trips to the outer islands in the not too distant future. For now we are focusing on establishing Pitcairn Island itself as the gateway to our less accessible islands."

Thank you, Heather, for the permission to use the text for my blog.

This informations and more you can read at the Tourism Quarterly. You want also informations about this wonderful island? 

For the Tourism Quarterly sent an email to tourism@pitcairn.pn
 

Have a great day 
© Constanze Hoffmann