I wonder if this has any bearing (a long shot?) on the fairly
frequently reported accounts (mainly in ethno-ornithology, but some
apparently by western observers) of "fishing" behaviour by
cassowaries in New Guinea?
For instance:
During the Crane Pacific
Expedition in
1928-29, the expedition boat Illyria visited the Sepik
to make natural history collections.
According to the expedition’s historian, Sidney Shurcliff
(1930: 226),
the Head of the expedition’s scientific staff, Karl Patterson
Schmidt, told
other team members:
“...a rather
delightful story about the
cassowary which he says is well known in the world of
science*, although it has
never been proven. According to the
story, the cassowary fishes by going into the water up to his
neck and fluffing
out his hair-like feathers. Small
fish,
mistaking the feathers of the bird for a mass of water
vegetation, soon take
refuge in them. The cassowary, after
waiting patiently in the water for a half hour or so, makes a
sudden rush for
the shore and shaking himself thoroughly proceeds to devour
the fish thrown
onto the ground.”
A very similar account by
the French anthropologist, Monique Jeudy-Ballini,
from East New Britain.
“The Sulka also attribute this bird with
the peculiarity of using its body as a water trap. Its cunning consists in squatting in
water
holes with its wings outspread so that little fish or
crustaceans will enter
the feathers to feed on parasites. They
are
rewarded for their greediness by being eaten in turn when the
cassowary,
hopping out of the water, shakes itself and gobbles them up as
they fall to the
ground.” (Jeudy-Ballini, 2002:
203).
References:
Jeudy-Ballini, M. (2002).
"To Help and To
"Hold": Forms of Cooperation Among the Sulka, New Britain". In:
M. Jeudy-Ballini and B.
Juillerat, Eds. People and Things: Social Mediations in
Oceania.
Durham, N.C., Carolina Academic Press,
pp. 185-209.
Shurcliff, S. N. (1930). Jungle
Islands:
The "Illyria" in the South Seas.
New York,
G.P. Putnam's Sons.
see also:
Gardner, D. S.
(1984). “A note on the androgynous qualities of the cassowary:
or why the
Mianmin say it is not a bird.” Oceania
55(2): 137-145
*I assume Shurcliff had recently read: Gudger, E.W. (1927).
"How the Cassowary (Casuarius bennettii) Goes A-fishing."
Natural History, 27(5), 485-48.
Robin Hide
On 17/10/2010 1:47 PM, Peter Ormay wrote:
Thank you Lindsey and Paul
I saw that hunting technique on a
wildlife documentary years ago but missed what species
employed it and where it lived. It's a cunning method.
What species did you observe
using the technique in Australia Paul?
Cheers
Peter
