Amu

The Amu, the alpine Emu, is among the biggest bird on Nea. Thanks to their efficient lungs, birds often have less problems with the less oxygen in the atmosphere, especially the flightless species even inhabit the higher altitudes.
Amus are such animals. They thrive in the neanean alps up to an altitude of 1800 m and prefer the slopes near the coast of the Kurnugian sea.
Alone or in small groups they wander through large areas always on the search for good feeding grounds.
At the coast of the Kurnugian sea eastern winds bring fog and sometimes even a bit rain into the mountains and let surprisingly many plants bloom. Their seeds and leaves are what Amus mostly rely on. In addition they feed on invertebrates and carrion when available.

Amus are smaller than Emus from Earth (a comparison can be seen on the picture), they have shorter legs and are overall lighter. Near the head the exposed skin become purple and they have more complex feathery integument at the neck. The plumage is grayish brown and match very well the color of the rocks around them. 

It is controversial if the Amu is really a on species or only a subspecies of the Emu, but indubitably these animals show adaptions for the new habitat they live in. Interestingly they weren't meant to populate the mountains but the narrow coastal plain, but for still not fully understood reasons only the Emus which wandered into the mountains survived more than 3 generations.

p.s. locals often call them dew robbers.

Nea: hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/a…