The Baby Ostrich

Baby ostrich

Ostriches  the biggest birds in the world are some of the greatest wildlife one can ever think of in the African natural habitat and in many parts of the world. Ostrich (family Struthionidae) are the largest living bird in the world. The ostrich  are flightless, and these dangerous beautiful birds are built for running in the dangerous forests, African Savannah habitat and the hot and desert habitat as well.The ostrich as far as information about its lifespan in captivity and the ostrich in the wild, its amazing to note that these beautiful dangerous big birds in the wild live for about 60 years. 

Whether there is something special which makes this big bird one of the unique birds of the world as there are many myths about ostrich and some of the most common fun facts about the ostrich head is that the brain of an ostrich is smaller than either one of its eyeballs and each of its each eye is the size of a billiard ball. Why did such a very big bird have such a small brain? Nature really has its own ways of making every animal and wildlife have its own unique characteristics which makes it survive in the wild and in many of the natural animal habitat. Its amazing to note that ostrich despite their long legs and bulky body can sprint up to 43 miles per hour and can maintain an amazing  speed of about 31 miles per hour. Come rain come sun shine there is no creature in the world which has more wits than the ostrich as when the weather changes and it decides to rain cats and dogs the ostrich wings help them maintain balance when running, but are mainly used for communication and courtship.

Baby chicks also can shelter from sun and rain under an adult’s wings. Despite these ostrich habitat being endangered and keep on shrinking due to habitat loss and land degradation, the ostrich is just one of the greatest flightless birds which has managed to survive even in the African Savannah habitat where the African big cats also are part of the natural ecosystem and tend to roam and rule the wild as well. 

The amazing ostrich food and ostrich diet

What do ostriches really eat? Are ostriches like chickens or are ostriches just like big turkeys or other species of birds which have evolved with time? Ostriches eat plants of different species, insects such as grasshoppers, locusts, dragonflies, praying mantis and other variety of small crowing insects and animals such as lizards. One amazing animal fact about ostriches that when these big birds of this planet eat, the ostriches  collect their food in their crop, which is at the top of the throat. People normally chew their food before swallowing. Crocodiles will just gulp anything which enters its mouth while the ostrich will continue pilling the food its eating until there is a big enough lump to slide down the neck.

Another amazing a fact about ostrich is  that just like any other birds which don't have teeth, the ostrich amazingly usually swallow pebbles that help grind the swallowed foodstuff in the gizzard. How long do you thing you can go without drinking water? do you think you humans can endure long hours without water? Guess what? Ostriches can go without water for a long time, however, they like water and enjoy bathing in it as well. Its not just the African elephants and the Asian elephants which like water. These flightless birds are just as pleased to be in the water and making good use of it whenever its available in the wild. Ostriches never need to drink water. Some water is made internally in their system and the rest of water is extracted from the vegetation they eat.

Intestine of an ostrich is about twice as long as that of a human. It is 46 feet long.

A female ostrich shows remarkable ability to recognize her own eggs even when mixed in with those of other females in their communal nest.

Ostriches are so powerful that a single kick at a predator, such as a lion, could be fatal.

Ostriches stretch out their neck and lay their head on the ground to keep from being seen, hence the myth that ostriches hide in the sand.

Ostrich is the largest and heaviest living bird. It is unable to fly and does not posses a keeled sternum (breastbone) common to most birds.

Ostriches can run up to 70km/hr(40 mph) and can outpace most pursuers, such as lions, leopards, and hyenas.

Ostriches do not bury their head in the sand.

When fully grown an ostrich has one of the most advanced immune systems known to mankind.

Ostriches have the best feed to weight ratio gain of any land animal in the world. They are successfully farmed in at least 50 countries; from the coldest climates of Alaska to the equatorial areas of central Africa.

Ostriches are not an endangered species; there are at least 2 million worldwide.

Ostrich meat resembles beef in its appearance and is cooked almost the same way.

Ostrich meat is a red meat and is very low in cholesterol, calories and is almost fat free.

The Southern Ostrich

(Struthio camelus australis)

Withmany of the worlds animals species located in Africa, these amazing beautiful large birds are also known as the South African Ostrich. With a lot of land to eat its daily diet, many of these ostriches are mostly found in Southern Africa, zimbabwe, Botswana Namibia Angola and Malawi. Like any other ostrich species in the wild, the Southern ostrich are very economical to thepeople of these region and theyhave managed to co exist with these beautiful birds by providing feathers which is used in the world markets

North African Ostrich

(Struthio camelus camelus)

The North African ostrich has been legend in its time and with all their beautiful colours, the North African ostriches are some of the most beautiful birds in the world. In fact, these ostrich are well recognised for their e Red-necked Ostrich and they are the largest subspecies of the ostrich. The North African or the red neck ostrich most widespread and can be found from east to west Africa in countries like Somalia Ethiopia Tanzania Kenya Uganda Zaire Congo. This special kind of ostrich can be well differentiated from the female ostrich as the neck is red and the plumage of female's is grey in colour.

Masai Ostrich

(Struthio camelus massaicus)

Just as the name Masai implies, the famous Masai ostrich are as famous as the rich Masai land which is full of wild dangerous animals and home to the Big Five. With a vast area to have as their name, the Masai ostrich are mostly found in east Africa just as the Masai tribe which is mostly a parastoralist time and lives a nomadic life  and their range is limited to Kenya, Tanzania and parts of southern Somalia. The Masai ostrich has an orange neck and as well as its thigh  and during the mating season the neck and thighs of males become bright orange. The Masai morals who like to go hunting They also have some small feathers on their head.

Somali Ostrich

(Struthio camelus molybdophanes)

Just like the Masai ostrich and the North African ostrich, the Somali ostrich is also home to the habitat and native of Somali land as well. These long distant runners are found in parts of Southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and  a few parts of northern Kenya. Their neck and thighs are grey/blue in colour and during the mating season the neck and thighs of males become bright blue. The female Somali ostrich are mostly found in brown in colour than other subspecies. Amazingly as compared to the other ostrich species, the Somali ostrich live alone or in pairs rather than in flocks.

Arabian Ostrich

(Struthio camelus syriacus)

The Arabia ostrich are also known as the Middle Eastern Ostrich and they were found in the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Iraq. They became extinct around 1966.

Interesting Facts about ostrich

Ostriches are the largest, tallest and heaviest species of bird.

The name "Strothio camelus" means camel-like.

Ostrich eggs are the largest of all birds eggs, but they are the smallest relative to their size.

Only 10% of all Ostrich eggs laid will end up hatching.

There are many Ostrich farms in African countries that produce Ostriches for sustenance needs. These commercial farms meet the demand for Ostrich products so wild populations are not as affected by demand as they have been in the past.

It is a myth that Ostriches bury their heads in the sand.

Ostrich feathers have been used to make feather dusters for over 100 years.

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