The emu and ostrich are both ratite birds although the latter is not able to fly. They are the largest living flightless birds and even look very much alike, that makes them literally very similar. Both have large, comical looking eyes, adorable nerdy-like expressions on their faces, long and thin necks and legs.

The ratite family is characterized by a small ratio brain to body ratio hence the birds have small brains and are not very clever. But when you have an idea on what to look for, these birds can easily be distinguished from one another. The differences include differences in size, color, their natural habitat and many others. Not only are their structures vastly dissimilar, but even their eggs differ quite significantly from each other.

Farmed species of birds include emus, which are reared for their meat, oil, as well as leather, while on the other hand ostrich is reared for meat leather as well as their feathers. These include feathers which are used to make duster and other nice looking ornaments like that of an ostrich.

Learn everything there is to know about comparing these two birds below!

Comparing Ostrich vs Emu

The confusion that people have with ostriches and emus is because these two birds are very closely related but they are very different when you come to compare them. One of these is that there is only one emu species, while there are two different species of ostrich: It is found that generally there are two species of ostriches and that’s known as common ostrich and other one is known as Somali ostrich.

Differences Between Ostriches and Emus

1.Ostriches are much larger.

The emu animals are quite large as compared to other birds that are commonly found in different parts of the world. Males can reach a height of up to 7 feet and can also possess a weight of up to 150 pounds. However, it gets even bigger as Ostriches are even much bigger.

These birds can stand up to 9 feet tall and can weigh as much as 320 pounds.

2.They live on different continents.

Both of these flightless birds, more specifically they both are considered to be flightless birds living in hot climates, though they are in markedly different regions. Ostriches are natives of Africa and are mainly found in the desert area while emus are associated with most parts of Australia.

3.Emus have smaller wings.

Although ostrich and emu belong to the same family of birds, wings of an emu are far less visible than the wings of an ostrich. One reason for this is their size: The size of the wings is much smaller in emu than in ostrich.

It also includes a coloration function Having a small face, the big eyes that are usually black and white and the yellow fur with black spots complete the coloration of this cartoon character. Whereas ostrich has white wing tips on a black background, emu has this color distribution over its entire plumage.

4.Emus live shorter lives.

However, emus have a pretty limited lifespan of 10-20 years. The oldest known emu lived up to 38 years of its age. Moreso, ostriches, which take between 30-50 years to mature, have a relatively much longer lifespan. Ostriches have a very long aging lifespan, and have been known to live more than 60 years in captivity.

5.Emu eggs are smaller.

If you are dancing around a flightless bird which has laid eggs, the differences are as easy to tell by looking at their shells! Emu eggs are tiny in size and blackish green in color and weigh about one pound on average.

Ostrich eggs are cream-colored and weigh up to three pounds.

Ostriches are omnivores.

Its diet consists of plant matter but it also feeds on insects and small reptiles. It was found that emus are usually exclusively vegetarian that feed on seeds, fruits and flowers. They will however seize a chance to take an insect if it comes their way, occasionally however.

Emus are darker in color.

As it has been mentioned above, males have white feather details at wings while females have dark brown feather coloration. They could also have white bellies. Whereas, Emus has dark skin all over the body. Emu females develop black feathers on the head while the naked skin of the head changes to blue color during the mating period. And their face, neck, and their feet are black too. Of course, ostriches have pink or white necks, faces, and feet by comparison.

Why do ostriches and emus bury their heads?

I’m sure we are all familiar with the saying that one buries his/her head in the sand, right? It means to blatantly look at something, probably an issue that could cause trouble and then proceed not to act on it. Since, as everyone knows, emus and ostriches bury their heads into the sand, they are tied to the idiom.

Still, that is not at all while these great birds do act in that way of course. The avians are not shy of the existence of something, nor are they trying to evade something at any given one.

This is true to other flightless birds such as emus and ostriches which will have to search and look for areas where they could lay their eggs on the ground. They will not be able to establish a home in a tree or on a face of a cliff for instance. Instead of using hollows they burrow into the ground and their nests are built just a little beneath the ground. When you observe the long necked birds to nestle their beaked heads beneath the water surface, it’s for three reasons; to check on their offspring and also to turn the eggs to ensure they are warm enough.

Summary Differences Between Emus and Ostriches

Here is a look at the main differences between Emus and Ostriches

• Size
• Size of Eggs
• Number of Toes
• Lifespan
• Color
• Geography
• Diet
• Wingspan
• Speed