---
title: "Emu"
description: "Dromaius novaehollandiae — Birds. The emu (; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the tallest native bird."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/emu
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Emu

> Dromaius novaehollandiae — Birds. The emu (; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the tallest native bird.

- Scientific name: *Dromaius novaehollandiae*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 12789
- Wikidata: [Q93208](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q93208)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20504](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20504)

## Names

- en: Emu
- de: Großer Emu
- es: Emú
- fr: Émeu d’Australie
- nl: Emoe
- pt: Emu
- pl: Emu zwyczajne

## Countries with the most observations

AU (8688), NZ (42), ZA (7)

## Summary

The emu (; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the tallest native bird. It is the only extant member of the genus Dromaius and the third-tallest living bird after its African ratite relatives, the common ostrich and Somali ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788.
The emu has soft, brown feathers, a long neck, and long legs. It can grow up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in height. It is a robust bipedal runner that can…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu

## Photo

![Emu](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/emu/medium.jpg)

Photo: Bethlea Bell · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97592290

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/emu?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).