Yesterday a lonely chick showed up at midday. They sometimes get separated from their dad, but usually not for long, as they call for him and he has very good hearing. This chick didn’t vocalize much, but it certainly knew how to make itself almost invisible to potential predators like Grey Goshawks:

It was joined by one of its siblings an hour later. Now we started to worry: surely Dad would have noticed that 2 out of 3 chicks went missing! Maybe he chased another adult cassowary and left the chicks behind? We were very relieved to see Dad together with all 3 chicks later in the afternoon!

It was interesting that the two lonely chicks started fighting with each other, and continued to do so on and off. We’ve never seen such small cassowaries fighting, only when they were at least about 6 months old. Maybe Dad keeps  them in check when they are in his presence?