Emu vs. Ostrich

Main Difference

The Emu and Ostrich belong to the same class of the birds, although they differ in this regard as they belong to the different order. The Emu belongs to the Casuariiformes order, whereas Ostrich hails from the Struthioniformes. When one have to differentiate it between both these flightless birds, just by the physical appearance and movements, one founds it quite difficult as both are one of the largest birds in the world and also rest on the top of the list of fastest running birds in the world. The Emu follows the Ostrich on the second slot both regarding the large size and the speed of the running birds.

Difference Between Emu and Ostrich

Comparison Chart

Whats is Emu?

The Emu is the second largest bird in the world after the Ostrich. It has quite the similar the features as the Ostrich; these flightless birds are also the second fastest running birds. The Emu, which grows up to 1.9 meters (6.2 ft) in height also has the capability to run at the speed of around 50 Kilometers per hour. The Emu hails from the Australia, and it is the only bird alive from the genus Doramius. It will be pertinent to mention here that Emu and Ostrich hail from the same class but later gets differentiated on the basis of order, family, and genus. It is harder to distinguish between male and female emu as both have deep brown feathers and not have much of the size difference. Although, they can be differentiated from one and another easily during the mating season as the black feathers grew on the head of the female during this period. Other than this, during the mating season, the bare skin of the female emu turns blue. The emu is also the commercially important bird as products like meat, oil and leather are generated from them. They also have the soft feather which is highly demanded its usage in duster formation and as the decorative item. In the mating, season the male and female emu live along with each other for around five months, and once the female emu has laid the eggs, it becomes the responsibility of the males to incubate them.

What is Ostrich?

The Ostrich are the world’s largest bird with an average height of between 6-9 feet. The other reason for Ostrich becoming famous is that they are the fastest running bird which can run up to 40 miles per hour (65 kilometers). Their features like long legs, long necks, and the small head are quite the same as of the largest Australian bird, Emu. Even then they can be easily differentiated due to their extra-large size and weight. The Ostrich hailing from the genus Struthio are now only limited to the Africa, where they live in the open grasslands called savannas. After the mating season, when the female Ostrich laid eggs, the female provide the incubation during the day time, and the male of the species does the same during night time. The male-female combination during the incubation makes up the natural camouflage. The Ostrich has quite the same diet as the emu; both of them feed on invertebrates and plants. The egg laid by the Ostrich is also recorded as the largest egg of any of the living bird; it weighs something around 1.5 kilograms.