Kakapo

The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) is the world's only flightless parrot. It is also one of the heaviest, weighing in at almost 6 pounds. The kakapo spends a lot of it's time on the ground, eating fruit, leaves, seeds, and roots. Instead of using it's wings for flight, the kakapo uses them, along with it's tail, to help it keep balance as it maneuvers itself through it's jungle home. 

The kakapo is also known as an owl parrot, due to it's face. It has a facial disc that is a common characteristic of many owls. The facial disc is made up of many small feathers that create a bowl like shape on the bird's face. This allows the bird to focus sounds towards its ears. Kind of like a satellite dish. Since the kakapo has no real defense, it needs anything it can to help it survive. It's plumage also makes it hard to see as it hides in vegetation on the forest floor. The kakapo is very active at night. It's name literally means night parrot. To help it get around at night, the kakapo has bristly feathers around it's facial disc that act like feelers. Kind of the same why a cat's whiskers work.

Kakapos are considered critically endangered, meaning they are close to being extinct. This is mainly do to predation by animals like cats that were introduced to New Zealand by humans. Such animals are considered invasive, meaning they are not native to the land and do more harm than good. Many invasive species are introduced by people with a good goal in mind; like controlling a pest specie or providing a new food source. But, these new species often over populate and battle native species for resources like food, water, and habitat, or, like the kakapo, they become food to the introduced specie. The kakapo is now found in only three distinct parts of New Zealand where they are highly protected.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen

Double-Wattled Cassowary

The double-wattled cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large flightless bird that lives in northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Although it can't fly away from it's predators, it protects itself by slashing out it's long 4 inch long claws. It can run about 30 miles per hour and can jump nearly five feet, making it one of the more dangerous animals in Australia. 

It uses it's big feet to chase small birds and mammals through the jungle it lives in.It also eats fruits, insects, fungi, and carrion. While it's claws help it catch prey and give it sure footing as it runs, it's feathers also help it speed through the forest. They are thick and dense, which protects the cassowary from getting stuck by thorns and bramble as well as keep it waterproof. The large knob on it's head, called a casque, helps it as well by allowing it to smash through twigs and branches. 

The casque grows as it ages. Young cassowary lack a casque, so they must stay with their mother for protection. Cassowaries lay around 3 to 5 bright green or black eggs in a nest made of mostly leaves. Chicks are brown and stripped, which helps them camouflage in the shady jungle.

The cassowary belongs to the taxonomic order known as Casuariiformes, where the emu and the cassowary are the only members. Taxonomy is the science of how animals are categorized. In order to keep track of all the animals out there, scientist list them in very specific order. It starts off very broad, listing whether its an animal, plant, fungus, or perhaps bacteria. It then starts to get more specific, such as whether the animal has a backbone, if it's a mammal, reptile, or bird. As classification gets more specific it get so specific to it's individual name, which is the long name after it's common name. It's scientific name, or bionomenclature, is always in Latin. This way every scientist in the world will be able to know what animal is being talked about. 

Source: The Encyclopedia of Animals, 2006, Per Christiansen