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==Description==
==Description==
It is the largest of the three species of cassowary, standing up to 6 feet high when fully erect, and can weigh up to 130 lbs; females are slightly larger than the males. The hair-like plumage is dark, almost black in color, and hangs loosely from the bird; since their are no barbules on the feathers, the barbs cannot link to form a vein. The rudimentary wings are hidden from view, a set of four or five stiff spine-like shafts about fifteen inches long indicating where they are.
It is the largest of the three species of cassowary, standing up to 6 feet high when fully erect, and can weigh up to 130 lbs; females are slightly larger than the males. The hair-like plumage is dark, almost black in color, and hangs loosely from the bird; since there are no barbules on the feathers, the barbs cannot link to form a vein. The rudimentary wings are hidden from view, a set of four or five stiff spine-like shafts about fifteen inches long indicating where they are.
The head and neck are bare of feathers and brilliantly colored in blue, with a red double-wattle hanging near the base of the neck. The head is crowned with a ''casque'', a bony growth of keratin up to six inches in height. To date, no reasonable explanation has been put forward for the presence of the casque, which has been postulated as being a sound resonator, a sexual characteristic, or as an underbrush battering ram; indeed many cassowaries have been recorded showing damage to the casque, suggesting the plausibility of the battering ram theory. In his research Andrew L. Mack suggests the sound resonator may be correct,<ref>http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1642/0004-8038%282003%29120%5B1062%3ALVBCCS%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=tauk</ref> as the birds have a very low-frequency, booming call - as low as 23 Hz - necessary for communicating with each other in the dense, forested areas in which it is found.
The head and neck are bare of feathers and brilliantly colored in blue, with a red double-wattle hanging near the base of the neck. The head is crowned with a ''casque'', a bony growth of keratin up to six inches in height. To date, no reasonable explanation has been put forward for the presence of the casque, which has been postulated as being a sound resonator, a sexual characteristic, or as an underbrush battering ram; indeed many cassowaries have been recorded showing damage to the casque, suggesting the plausibility of the battering ram theory. In his research Andrew L. Mack suggests the sound resonator may be correct,<ref>http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1642/0004-8038%282003%29120%5B1062%3ALVBCCS%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=tauk</ref> as the birds have a very low-frequency, booming call - as low as 23 Hz - necessary for communicating with each other in the dense, forested areas in which it is found.