Editing Cassowary (section)

=== Diet ===

Fruit from at least 26 plant families has been documented in the diet of cassowaries. Fruits from the [[laurus nobilis|laurel]], [[podocarp]], palm, wild grape, [[nightshade]], and myrtle families are important items in the diet.{{r|Davies2003}} The poisonous [[cassowary plum]] takes its name from the bird. The bird avoids the poisons of these fruits due to the presence of their incredibly short gastrointestinal tract, the shortest of all ratites in relation to their size.<ref name=cairns>{{cite web|title=Captive Management Guidelines for the Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii|last=Biggs| first=James R.|date=2013|publisher=Cairns Tropical Zoo|page= 23–24, 73–77|url=https://aszk.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Southern-Cassowary-Casuarius-casuarius-johnsonii-Biggs-J.-2013.pdf}}</ref> The cassowary's incredibly short and simple digestive tract leads to a short gut retention time which allow seeds to remain unharmed during the comparatively soft digestion process and allows them to consume fruits that contain toxins such as [[cyanogen]]s.<ref name=cairns/> 

Where trees are dropping fruit, cassowaries come in and feed, with each bird defending a tree from others for a few days. They move on when the fruit is depleted. Fruit, even items as large as [[banana]]s and apples, is swallowed whole. Cassowaries are a [[keystone species]] of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement.{{r|Davies2003}}

Adult and young cassowaries also practice [[coprophagia]]. As adult waste often contain half-digested fruit which still has nutritional value, so the birds would devour each other's as well as their own droppings.<ref>{{cite web| title=10 Colorful Facts About Cassowaries| url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/80394/10-facts-about-cassowaries| website=Mental Floss| last=Mancini| first=Mark| date=April 19, 2019}}</ref><ref name=ADW/>

In more urbanised areas, especially in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]], 'urbanised' cassowaries have adopted to also feed on picnic blankets, tables and baskets or backyard bird feeders and compost heaps, thereby consuming a wide range of non-natural and non-native foods as well.<ref name="NationalRecovery">{{cite web| title=National Recovery Plan for the Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii| last=Dennis| first=Andrew J.| year=2023| publisher=Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water| location=Canberra| page=19| url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/draft-national-recovery-plan-southern-cassowary.pdf| access-date=July 3, 2023| archive-date=July 3, 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703065809/https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/draft-national-recovery-plan-southern-cassowary.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref> In fact, cassowaries are known to eat non-edible items—in one case, collection of urban cassowary droppings resulted in many unusual items. Outside of the skeletal remains of a [[honeyeater]], researchers also found remains of a child’s coloured building blocks, various sized marbles and a very small plastic car that came from a cereal packet.<ref name="Daintree">{{cite web| title=Cassowary Foods| website=Daintree Cassowaries| url=http://www.daintreecassowary.org.au/cassowary-foods}}</ref> In terms of roadkill, discarded fish was reported; another type of roadkill reported eaten by cassowaries is the [[bandicoot]].<ref name="Daintree"/><ref name="australiangeographic">{{cite web| title=Jungle royalty: the enigmatic cassowary| last=Pickrell| first=John| date=2019| issue=152|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2019/10/jungle-royalty-the-enigmatic-cassowary/| website=Australian Geographic}}</ref>

In captivity, cassowaries get the majority of their protein source from dog or monkey food.<ref name=ADW>{{cite web| title=Casuarius unappendiculatusnorthern cassowary| last=Neikirk| first=Rose|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Casuarius_unappendiculatus/| website=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref> In fact, captive cassowaries consume almost {{cvt|1|l}} of a protein source (such as dog food) in conjunction with {{cvt|19|l}} of fruit a day, which results in 5% of their overall diet.<ref name=ADW/>