Cassowary - Behaviour

Behaviour

Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies. The male cassowary defends a territory of about 7 square kilometres (1,700 acres) for itself and its mate, while females have overlapping territories of several males. While females move between satellite territories of different males, they appear to remain within the same territories for most of their lives, mating with the same or closely related males over the course of their life span. Courtship and pair bonding rituals begin with the vibratory sounds broadcast by females. Males approach and run with necks parallel to the ground with dramatic movements of the head, which accentuate the frontal neck region. The female approaches drumming slowly. The male will crouch upon the ground and the female will either step on the males back for a moment before crouching beside him in preparation for copulation or she may attack. This is often the case with the females pursuing the males in ritualistic chasing behaviors that generally culminate in water. The male cassowary dives into water and submerges himself up to his upper neck and head. The female pursues him into the water where he eventually drives her to the shallows where she crouches making ritualistic motions of her head. The two may remain in copulation for extended periods of time. In some cases another male may approach and run the other male off. He will climb on to her to copulate as well. Males are far more tolerant of one another than females, which do not tolerate the presence of other females.