Learn What Emus Eat

Taller, faster runner, and lined up as the second-largest bird are some of the characteristics of the emus. Emus are flightless birds – capable of traveling and reaching long distances with the help of their long legs. Surprisingly, they appear like large mammals because of their mammal-like appearance. But the truth is they are heavy birds weighing as much as 100 pounds. Native to Australia, emus are found near coastal areas as well as woodlands. Like other birds of the species, emus feed on plants and a bunch of diverse insects. So what do emus eat? One might wonder. Well, there’s more to their variety of diet, which needs to be explored. Hence, we’ll look at the dietary habits of emus in this post.

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Insects and Animals

Emus are omnivores and diurnal, meaning they forage plant and animal-based diets during the day. Whenever the season changes, their diet varies according to the availability of the food supply. That being said, emus eat meat, mice, dog food, eggs, rodents, and small reptiles. Along with these, emus devour a variety of insects easily found in their habitats. Emus eat bugs, insects, spiders, and worms.

Fruit, Vegetables, and Plants

Typically, the diet of the emus encompasses a multitude of plant species. As they go about the feeding process, emus ingest the small stones along with the plants. In fact, emus are found to consume charcoal as well – which is quite surprising! Their plant diet can include fruit, vegetables, and plants. Emus eat fruits, apples, bananas, carrots, lettuce, rocks, and roots. To sum up, emus eat grass, chicken feed, corn, bread, peanuts, and seeds.

What do emus eat in the wild?

Emus get their protein and other nutrients from insects available in the environment. This is because they feed on what’s available in their habitat. However, they are known to go without eating for several weeks. Emus eat grass shoots, acacia, casuarina, grass, seeds, grasshoppers, beetles, ants, ladybirds, and crickets in the wild.

What do emus eat in captivity?

Emus enjoy a sizable amount of portion in a day living in captivity. Their diet should be balanced when they are captive and should include several nutrients. Hence, emus eat ratite feed, poultry feed, insects like grasshoppers, grubs, and ladybirds in captivity. Moreover, emus can eat alfalfa pellets, fruits, green vegetables, mazuri emu feed, and rabbit feed in captivity.

What do emus eat in zoos?

The diet of the emus doesn’t differ much in their new zoo environment. They can consume diverse species of plants including grass as well as other feeds available in the market. Therefore, emus eat bone meal, fruits, seeds, acacia, leaves, a bunch of insects, and more in zoos.

What emus don’t eat?

While there are a bunch of diet options emus forage, there are also certain foods that they avoid. Hence, emus don’t eat chicken, birds, snakes, ticks, bark, possums, eucalyptus, rabbits, and hot dogs. Some of these can be predators of the emus. Therefore, they can attack or harm the emus. All in all, emus don’t eat chicken, other birds, fish, frogs, geckos, gum trees, gold, small birds, and termites. Emus can’t eat chocolate, so don’t try to feed them human food!

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