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Community Corner

Meet the Zoo: Drummer and Wiggie

Although they can't fly, these huge birds have the ability to swim, can run about 30 miles per hour and go for weeks without eating.

Did you know that the second tallest species of bird in the world lives right here in Brooklyn?  Wiggie and Drummer are a pair of emu – tall, flightless birds native to Australia – who live at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo. 

Averaging a little over six feet tall, Emu are second in height only to their African cousins, the ostrich. These soft-feathered birds can run about 31 miles per hour and often travel long distances in search of food. In fact, they have been known to go weeks without food.

Besides eating plants and insects they also ingest stones to help them mash up food in their stomachs. And despite their huge size – emus average about 100 pounds –they have the ability to swim.

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What an unusual bird.

Like most emu, Drummer and Wiggie are nosy birds, very interested in watching the wallabies and other animals near them as well as the humans who visit them.

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They’re both about 16 years old, getting on in years for emu, who generally live in captivity to about 20. They came to Prospect Park Zoo when it reopened in 1993.

Both females, the name Wiggie is a mystery but Drummer is definitely named after the unique noise that emu make, which sounds a bit like drums thumping. Drummer lives up to her name.  She is the more aggressive of the two and “drums” a lot more to let everyone know she’s there – as if anyone could miss a 6-foot-tall bird. 

Wiggie is much calmer and even allows keepers to go into the enclosure with her.  Keepers have to be watchful around these birds – emu have super strong legs and on each of their three toes is a nail that can be dangerous.  Strong kicks help emu protect themselves at close range against predators like dingoes.  

Today, the Australian Walkabout exhibit, where Wiggie and Drummer live, will reopen with a big surprise. Instead of being relegated to the back, Wiggie and Drummer have been moved up front, allowing visitors to stand just a few feet away from these awesome birds and get a real sense of their great size. 

So come visit the zoo and say hello to the emu – and if you are lucky, Drummer might answer you back.

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