Plants are also useful as nesting materials for most birds. Larger birds need more nesting material, such as the Stellar's sea eagle. The Stellar's sea eagles are from northeast Asia, north China and Japan. They use pine trees and other nesting materials that keepers toss in their enclosures to build nests up to eight feet across and ten feet deep. Beware of Cassowaries My favorite part of our tour of the Zoo's birds was getting a chance to see a cassowary.
Cassowaries are one of four species within a group of large, flightless birds.
The other species include emus, ostriches, and rheas. Cassowaries can be found in northern Australia and parts of New Guinea. And yes, even cassowaries play an interesting role when it comes to plants. If cassowaries ever became extinct, it would result in a decrease of flowers and plants in the wild. This is because cassowaries feed on fallen fruit and native and domesticated plants in the undergrowth of the rain forest.