There was one creature in Australia, out of all the deadly and dangerous creatures, that my Australian mate was concerned with me encountering: the murderbird (southern cassowary).

When asking zookeepers at the San Francisco Zoo to list the most dangerous animal in the zoo they often replied: a tiger might attack you but a cassowary will attack you. This flightless beast topped the list.

And I intended to see a cassowary in North Queensland. The Murderbird topped my Australian birding wishlist.

I will be on a five day guided birding trip out of Cairns and we would be looking for the flightless Danger Bird on three different days.

If the tawny frogmouth looks like a Muppet, then the cassowary looks like a denizen of Sesame Street, but from the other side of the tracks. A satanic Big Bird.