Face to face with one of Australia's most extraordinary birds - every detail of the cassowary's remarkable features on full display. The vivid blue and red, the daunting casque and the dark cascade of feathers, all feel prehistoric.

Cassowaries are among the most ancient of bird lineages and the rainforests of far north Queensland have changed little since the age of the dinosaurs. These ecosystems stretching across Cape York and the Daintree region, represent some of the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforest on Earth.

These giant birds are a keystone species - gardeners of the canopy, keeping the forest regenerating across generations. They are also notoriously private - an encounter like this one remains special.