cassowary

/ˈkæsəwəri/

Other forms: cassowaries

A cassowary is a large flightless bird that's related to an emu. Cassowaries are native to parts of Australia and New Guinea.

Though the cassowary is shorter than its leggy emu relatives, these birds are actually heavier — second only to the ostrich. Cassowaries are brightly colored and have a distinctive casque, or helmet, on top of their heads, which some biologists suspect helps the birds amplify a deep "boom" sound they often make. They're also incredibly shy, and difficult to spot in the wild. Cassowary is from the Papuan kasu weri, "horned head."

Definitions of cassowary

1. noun

   large black flightless bird of Australia and New Guinea having a horny head crest
   type of:

   flightless bird, ratite, ratite bird

   any of a group of flightless bird species with flat, unkeeled breastbones, such as ostriches, cassowaries, emus, and kiwis