Unfamiliar to many non-Aboriginal Australians, the mysterious emu caller is indigenous to New South Wales and northern Victoria, and is described by some Aboriginal women, lightly, as “the women’s didgeridoo”!
Typically made from a hollowed, short piece of wood around 40cm long, the emu caller is struck at one end with the palm of a flat hand to mimic the call of a female emu. Female emus were rarely, if ever hunted. Instead, the female’s call was used in hunting to distract a mob of emus to get closer or a better aim, and by women to lure the nesting male emu away from its clutch, so boys could pinch a few fresh eggs for bush tucker. The emu caller may also appear in some ceremonies as a musical instrument to imitate the emu’s sound and perhaps complement an emu dance.
Emus are renowned for being naturally gullible and foolishly curious (see our blog at http://www.sydneyoutback.com.au/blog/sydney-outbacks-top-12-about-emus/), so even a poorly imitated call is likely to get the male’s attention! (While
males incubate the clutch, females may mate with several males over the mating period, daily adding new eggs to her nest. Males won’t miss an opportunity for a fling either, only leaving its clutch momentarily with hopes of rendezvousing with a long-legged emu-Sheila for a quickie over the heath.) 
To the team at Sydney OutBack, the emu caller is another example of the Aboriginal people’s incredible ingenuity and understanding of ecology, seasons and astronomy, and animals and behavior. Through generations of experience and observation, they have used the materials at hand to meet their immediate needs, to create opportunities in hunting and for survival, and to maintain ceremony, to entertain and to deepen a cultural richness unique to our First Australians.
Sydney OutBack is delighted to have custodianship of a unique, traditional emu caller made from the hollowed, aged, wood-like trunk of an Australian Fern Tree – more commonly, the emu caller is a termite-hollowed gum tree branch. Ours has a varnished, natural finish highlighting its striking pattern created where the fronds joined the trunk, which even resembles the footprint of an emu. To learn more about Sydney OutBack’s Wilderness and Aboriginal Explorer Tour and Cruise, just click here. 
Our tours are also part of Tourism Australia’s Indigenous Tourism Champions Program (ITCP), recognizing that we offer a quality experience that that meets the needs and expectations of international visitors.