Editing Cassowary (section)

=== Reproduction ===
[[File:Casuarius casuarius -Artis Zoo, Netherlands -chick-8b.jpg|thumb|Juvenile southern cassowary]]
The cassowary breeding season starts in May to June. Females lay three to eight large, bright green or pale green-blue [[Bird egg|eggs]] in each clutch into a heap of leaf litter prepared by the male.{{r|Davies2003}} The eggs measure about {{convert|9|by|14|cm|in|abbr=on}} – only ostrich and emu eggs are larger.

The male [[Avian incubation|incubates]] those eggs for 50–52 days, removing or adding litter to regulate the temperature, then protects the chicks, which stay in the nest for about 9 months. He defends them fiercely against all potential predators, including humans. The young males later go off to find a territory of their own.{{r|Davies2003}}

The female does not care for the eggs or the chicks, but rather moves on within her territory to lay eggs in the nests of several other males. Young cassowaries are brown and have buffy stripes. They are often kept as pets in native villages (in New Guinea), where they are permitted to roam like barnyard fowl until nearing maturity. Caged birds are regularly bereft of their fresh plumes.{{r|Gilliard1958_23}}