It is the largest bird in Australia and the second tallest in the world: the emu. It cannot fly, but it runs at around fifty kilometers per hour with strides of almost three meters. Look at its feathers: two grow from each shaft, which is why it looks tousled. This plumage protects it from the scorching sun of the Australian interior. But the most surprising thing is the way it raises its young. The female lays enormous eggs, dark green, almost black… and then it is the male who incubates them for about eight weeks, hardly eating or drinking at all. Afterwards he looks after the chicks on his own. And if you hear a deep sound, like a distant drum, it may be a female emu. A tireless runner and a true symbol of Australia: it appears alongside the kangaroo on the country’s coat of arms.