They have a small head with a direct beak and large eyes decorated with eyelashes. These are birds, but their wings are poorly developed, they will not be able to fly. But this is offset by strong legs. The shell of eggs was used by ancient Africans to transfer water in it.
Also, people were not indifferent to their luxurious feathers. They cover almost the entire body of this bird. In males, feathers are usually black, with the exception of the wings and tail, they are white. Females of a slightly different shade, gray-brown, their tail and wings are grayish-white.
Once upon a time feathers, fans were made from the feathers of this bird; ladies' hats were decorated with them. Because of this, 200 years ago, ostriches were on the verge of extinction, until they began to be kept on farms.
Their eggs, and the eggs of other birds, are eaten, various products are made from shells. It is used in food and meat, it resembles beef, and fat is added to cosmetics. Down and feathers are still used as decorations.
Fortunately, now these friendly exotic birds are not uncommon, 10 interesting facts about ostriches will help you get to know them better.
10. The largest bird in the world
African ostrich is called the most huge bird, because it grows to 2m 70 cm and weighs 156 kg. They live in Africa. Once they could be found in Asia. But, despite such a huge size, this bird has a small head, a tiny brain, not exceeding a walnut in diameter.
Legs are their main wealth. They are adapted for running, as have powerful muscles, with 2 fingers, one of which resembles a foot. They prefer open terrain, avoid thickets, swamps and deserts with quicksands, because they couldn’t run fast there.
9. The name translates "camel sparrow"
Word "ostrich" came to us from German, Strauss came from Greek "Strouthos" or "Strufos". It translated as "bird" or "sparrow". The phrase "strufos megas"Meant"big bird"And related to ostriches.
Another Greek name for it is "Strufokamelos", what can be translated as "camel bird" or "camel sparrow». At first this Greek word became Latin "Strucio" then entered the German language as Strauss and later came down to us as familiar to everyone "ostrich".
8. Herd birds
They live in small families. They usually have one adult male and four to five females of different ages. But sometimes, in rare cases, in one flock there are up to fifty birds. It is not permanent, but everyone in it is subject to a strict hierarchy. If this is a high-ranking ostrich, then its neck and tail are always located vertically, weakened individuals prefer to keep their heads inclined.
Ostriches can be seen next to groups of antelopes and zebras, if you need to cross the African plains, they prefer to stay close to them. Zebras and other animals are not against such a neighborhood. Ostriches warn them in advance of danger.
During feeding, they often look around. They have excellent vision, they can see a moving object at a distance of 1 km. As soon as the ostrich notices a predator, he begins to run away, and after him other animals that are not distinguished by vigilance.
7. Area of residence - Africa
Ostriches have long been domesticated, they are bred on farms, i.e. You can meet these birds around the world. But wild ostriches live only in Africa.
Once they were found in Central Asia, the Middle East, Iran, India, i.e. occupied more significant territories. But due to the fact that they were constantly hunted, in other places they were simply exterminated, even the numerous Middle Eastern species.
Ostriches can be found on almost the entire continent, except for the Sahara desert and the north of the mainland. They feel especially good in nature reserves where it is forbidden to hunt birds.
6. Two species: African and Brazilian
For a long time, ostriches were considered not only the African birds that live in this continent, but also the Nanda. This so-called Brazilian ostrich is similar to the African ostrich, now it belongs to the order of nanduiformes. Despite the similarity of birds, there are significant differences between them.
Firstly, they are much smaller: even the largest nandu grows up to a maximum of 1.4 m. The ostrich’s neck is bare, and the nandu’s is covered with feathers, the first has 2 toes and the second has 3. The cry of the nandus is not like on the bird’s, it resembles the roar of a predator, makes sounds reminiscent of “Nan-do”, because of which it received such a name. They can be found not only in Brazil, but also in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay.
Nanda also prefer to live in herds, where there are from 5 to 30 individuals. It includes males, and chicks, and females. They can form mixed herds with deer, vicunas, guanaco, and in rare cases with cows and sheep.
5. Young individuals eat only meat and insects
Ostriches are omnivores. They feed on grass, fruits, leaves. They prefer to collect food from the ground, rather than tear from tree branches. They also love insects, any small living creatures, including turtles, lizards, i.e. what they can swallow and grab.
They never crush prey, but swallow it. To survive, birds are forced to move from place to place in search of food. But they can live for several days without food and water.
If there are no ponds nearby, they also have enough of the liquid that they receive from plants. However, they prefer to make their parking near ponds, where they willingly drink water and swim.
To digest food, they need pebbles that ostriches swallow with pleasure. In the stomach of one bird, up to 1 kg of pebbles can accumulate.
And young ostriches prefer to eat only insects or small animals, refusing plant foods.
4. Do not have close relatives among other creatures
The order of ratites is ostrich-shaped. It includes only one representative - the African ostrich. We can say that ostriches have no close relatives.
Ringless birds include cassowar-like, for example, emu, kiwi-like - kiwi, nanduo-like - nandu, tinamoobraznye - tinamu, and several extinct orders. We can say that these birds are a distant relative of ostriches.
3. Develop tremendous speed up to 100 km / h
The legs are the only defense of this bird from enemies, because at the sight of them, ostriches run. Already young ostriches can travel at speeds of up to 50 km / h, and adults move even faster - 60-70 km / h and higher. They can maintain running speeds of up to 50 km / h for a long time.
2. While running, they move in huge leaps
Move around the area in huge leaps, for one such jump they can overcome from 3 to 5 m.
1. They don’t hide their heads in the sand
The thinker Pliny the Elder was sure that when he saw a predator, ostriches hide their heads in the sand. He believed that then it seems to these birds that they completely hid. But this is not so.
Ostriches bend their heads to the ground when they swallow sand or gravel, sometimes these solid pebbles they need for digestion are picked from the ground.
A bird that has been chased for a long time can lay its head on the sand, as she has no strength to lift her. When a female ostrich sits on a nest to wait out danger, it can flatten, bow its neck and head to become invisible. If a predator approaches her, she will jump up and run away.