---
title: "Southern Cassowary"
description: "Casuarius casuarius — Birds. The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two-wattled cassowary, is a large, flightless, mostly black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/southern-cassowary
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Cassowary

> Casuarius casuarius — Birds. The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two-wattled cassowary, is a large, flightless, mostly black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia.

- Scientific name: *Casuarius casuarius*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `jungle` (Jungle)
- iNaturalist observations: 3555
- Wikidata: [Q375790](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q375790)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20500](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20500)

## Names

- en: Southern Cassowary
- de: Helmkasuar
- es: Casuario común
- fr: Casoar à casque
- nl: Helmkasuaris
- pt: Casuar do sul
- pl: Kazuar hełmiasty

## Countries with the most observations

AU (2384), ID (23), PG (14)

## Summary

The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary, or two-wattled cassowary, is a large, flightless, mostly black bird, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf cassowary and the northern cassowary. It is a ratite and therefore related to the emu, ostrich, rhea and kiwi. Southern cassowaries are among the largest birds in the world, only weighing less than ostriches. 
The Australian population is listed as Endangered under federal and Queensland state legislation.

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

## Photo

![Southern Cassowary](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-cassowary/medium.jpg)

Photo: Ben Keen · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96985521

## Machine access

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