Do Male Emus Sit on the Eggs? Emu Fathers Explained

How do emu fathers incubate the eggs?

Emus pair up in the Australian summer, around December and January, and stay together for about five months. The male builds a simple, flat nest on the ground, lined with grass, bark, sticks and leaves, usually where he has a clear view of approaching danger. The female lays a clutch of about 5–15 large, dark green eggs, one every two to four days, between about April and June.

The male becomes broody, or ready to incubate, soon after laying starts, and may begin sitting before the clutch is complete. He develops a brood patch, a bare area of skin on his underside that presses directly against the eggs to keep them warm. He stands up only to turn the eggs, roughly ten times a day, and pulls back any eggs that roll out of the nest.

If something comes too close, he presses himself flat over the nest so that his shaggy brown feathers blend into the ground, then may rise suddenly to scare off the intruder.

How long does incubation take?

Incubation lasts about 56 days, or eight weeks. That is long compared with many birds; the much larger ostrich incubates for only about 35–45 days. Even though the eggs are laid days apart, they tend to hatch within a couple of days of each other, because the later eggs develop slightly faster.

What happens to the male’s body?

Sitting on the eggs is a huge physical effort. During the whole eight weeks the male usually does not eat, drink or defecate. He survives on fat stored during the months before breeding, perhaps supplemented by a little morning dew he can reach from the nest. By the end of incubation he has lost about a third of his body weight.

His behavior changes too: he becomes aggressive toward other emus, including his own mate.

What do female emus do?

Female emus are the more active partners in courtship. They boom loudly from a throat pouch, strut around the male and often fight other females for him. Once the clutch is laid and the male settles on the nest, most females walk away.

Many go on to mate with another male and lay another clutch; in a good season one female may nest up to three times. Mating outside the pair is common, so a male may incubate eggs that were not fathered by him. Females also sometimes lay eggs in other emus’ nests. A few females stay near the nest until hatching, but they do not incubate.

How do emu fathers raise their chicks?

Emu chicks hatch weighing about 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) and standing about 12 cm (5 in) tall. They are covered in cream and dark brown stripes that camouflage them in grass and shrubs. Within a few days they leave the nest and follow their father.

The male guards them closely for about five to seven months, leading them to food and water and teaching them what to eat. He ruffles his feathers, grunts and kicks to drive away predators such as foxes and dingoes, and even chases off other emus, including the mother. At night he shelters the chicks under his feathers. The stripes fade after about three months, and the young are nearly full-grown at about a year old. Read more about growth and lifespan in our emu profile.

Why do male emus do the parenting?

Male-only care is unusual among birds, but common among ratites, the group of flightless birds that includes emus, cassowaries, rheas and kiwis. Scientists think it lets females lay more eggs in a season: freed from incubation, a female can spend her energy producing several clutches with different males.

The cassowary, the emu’s closest relative, follows the same pattern: the male incubates the bright green eggs for about 50 days and raises the chicks alone. The ostrich is different, as males and females share incubation, with hens sitting by day and the black-feathered male by night. See emu vs ostrich for more differences between the two birds.

Emu fathers: myths and facts

Myth: the female emu abandons her eggs. She does not abandon them; the male takes over by design. In emus, incubation is simply the father’s job.

Fact: male emus can lose about a third of their weight while incubating. This makes emu fathers among the most devoted parents in the bird world. Their remarkable dark green eggs are covered in Why are emu eggs green?.