How big is a Dwarf Cassowary?

The Dwarf Cassowary is a huge sized bird weighing about 35.0 kg.

Where can you see a Dwarf Cassowary?

The Dwarf Cassowary occurs in 2 countries, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

What birds look similar to a Dwarf Cassowary?

The Dwarf Cassowary is most easily confused with the Northern Cassowary and the Southern Cassowary.

Is the Dwarf Cassowary endangered?

The Dwarf Cassowary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Dwarf Cassowary

Casuarius bennetti

Emu and Cassowaries · Casuariiformes · Legendary

The Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti) is a legendary emu and cassowari found in 2 countries, weighing about 35.0 kg. The dwarf cassowary, also known as Bennett's cassowary, little cassowary, mountain cassowary or muruk, is the smallest of the three extant species of cassowaries.

Least ConcernLegendaryEats fruitforestplatform nest35.0 kg

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 1 — Photo: (c) Martin Sordilla, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 2 — Photo: Donna Belder · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 3 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 4 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 5 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 6 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 7 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 8 — Photo: unknown · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti), photo 9 — Photo: (c) Donna Belder, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

About the Dwarf Cassowary

The dwarf cassowary, also known as Bennett's cassowary, little cassowary, mountain cassowary or muruk, is the smallest of the three extant species of cassowaries. Like all cassowaries, it is a mostly black, large flightless bird.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to identify it

The dwarf cassowary is a large bird but is smaller than other living cassowaries (the southern cassowary and northern cassowary). It is between 99 and 150 cm (3 ft 3 in and 4 ft 11 in) long and weighs between 17.6 and 26 kg (39 and 57 lb) It is a flightless bird with hard and stiff black plumage, a low triangular casque, pink cheek and red patches of skin on its blue neck. Compared to other cassowaries, the dwarf cassowary is shorter, with a tarsi length of 24.5 cm (9.6 in), with a slightly smaller bill, at 11 to 12.2 cm (4.3 to 4.8 in).

Where it lives

Papua New Guinea Indonesia

When to see it

Best months: March, April, May, July, August, September, October, November, with peak activity in July. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Dwarf Cassowary?: The dwarf cassowary is a large bird but is smaller than other living cassowaries (the southern cassowary and northern cassowary). Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Dwarf Cassowary?: The Dwarf Cassowary is a huge sized bird weighing about 35.0 kg.
Where can you see a Dwarf Cassowary?: The Dwarf Cassowary occurs in 2 countries, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
What birds look similar to a Dwarf Cassowary?: The Dwarf Cassowary is most easily confused with the Northern Cassowary and the Southern Cassowary.
Is the Dwarf Cassowary endangered?: The Dwarf Cassowary is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Dwarf Cassowary for real

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