Five Fabulous Fathers in Australian Wildlife

White’s Seahorse

With Father’s Day fast approaching we are shining a light on some of the weird and wonderful fathers of the Australian wild.

Emu

These fathers incubate the eggs for about seven weeks without leaving the nest. That means no drinking, feeding or even pooing!

The chicks stay with him for about four months, until they are able to eat on their own. Out of all the Australian animal dads he certainly deserves an accolade.

Clownfish [Anemonefish]

I love Finding Nemo but there is a huge hole in the plot - Nemo’s Dad would probably become a female after Nemo’s Mum became Barracuda breakfast. Clownfish are what’s known as sequential hermaphrodites meaning all offspring are born male and within a dominance hierarchy. Only one female exists in a school of clownfish, and she will mate with only one sexually mature male.

Once she’s gone, the dominant male becomes the breeding female and the remaining males will level up in the hierarchy. Females will provide minimal care to the clutch of 100-1000 eggs while the breeding male will devote his time to guarding, physically fanning the eggs, and keeping the nest tidy until they hatch. Sounds ace. I wish someone would tidy my house.

Cassowary

Daddy Cass sits on the female’s eggs for around 50 days. He must roll each dark green half-kilo egg over up to 4 times a day to keep it warm. Once hatched, he looks after the offspring and teaches them how to survive in the wild for up to 18 months. What a legend of a keystone species.

Little Penguin

These little guys are all about sharing the load. Little penguins lay two eggs, similar in size to chicken eggs. Both parents take it in turns to incubate the eggs for around 35 days, and they feed their chicks by regurgitating sea fish. After about 10 weeks of team work, the chicks will leave the nest and head out to sea to fend for themselves.

Seahorses

This super dad actually gives birth the young. After the mama swims in and deposits eggs into his pouch, it’s dad who fertilises, incubates and gives birth to their offspring. On average, a seahorse will give birth to 100–200 ‘fry’. [Baby seahorses are called fry] However, they are only pregnant for 20 -28 days. The little ones come out fully-formed, meaning that no after care is required and he is free to look for the next lover. Typical!

Still the White’s Seahorse made it on to our Father’s Day card.