2 days ago
Officer makes 'rare' discovery hiding in Aussie grasslands: 'Special find'
While monitoring habitat for a critically endangered bird in NSW's south, an officer from Murray Local Land Services stumbled across some unexpected treasures from another ground-dwelling bird.
In two separate nests, clusters of large, dark green emu eggs were found, with the agency describing the discovery as "rare" and "special".
Photos of the nests were shared on social media, with the service explaining the officer was originally in the area to observe the plains-wanderer, a quail-sized bird that typically weighs between 40 and 95g.
Instead, they spotted 19 emu eggs between the two nests – with each egg weighing up to 700g.
'While out monitoring plains-wanderer habitat, our NRM Land Services Officer stumbled across not one, but two emu nests!" the post read.
'These giant ground nests are a rare and special find – just another reminder of the amazing wildlife hiding in our native landscapes."
The nests – shallow depressions in the ground lined with grass, leaves or twigs – are built by the flightless bird's males, who take on the role of incubating the eggs and guarding them from predators.
Female emus leave the nest after laying the eggs, and males take over all parental responsibilities.
While the eggs are a marvellous sight, the unguarded nests left some viewers wondering where the dad could be.
Huge nest in Aussie outback leaves travellers stunned
It's not just emu nests stopping people in their tracks. Several weeks ago, two adventurers were 4WDing on an outback road in South Australia when they came across a huge nest on the ground measuring roughly four metres in diameter.
The nest belonged to a malleefowl, a shy and seldom-seen bird roughly the size of a chicken.
While it's rare to find the large nests in Australia, several of them can be spotted along the red dirt road, known as Goog's Track.
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