Cassowary in Lowland Rainforest

Cassowary in Lowland Rainforest is an original illustration set in Wet Tropics, Queensland, Australia. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is tropical rainforest — hot and wet all year.

A tall black bird crosses a dim rainforest clearing, its blue neck and red wattles vivid against the gloom, a high brown casque on its head. Buttressed trunks and broad understorey leaves close in around it. The light filtering down is green and diffuse.

Why does the cassowary have a helmet on its head?

The casque is thought to help it push through dense vegetation and carry low-frequency calls that travel through thick forest. A bird this large and flightless survives only where there were no ground predators for a very long time — an island continent. Buttress roots spread the load of tall trees on thin tropical soil, and the permanent green gloom means rain all year.

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