One of the most amazing species of birds on our planet is ostriches. They live on Earth for several million years, but the world is changing, but there is no bird. We think they are stupid, hiding their heads in the sand. But is it really so? In fact, the intellectual abilities of these flightless birds are much higher than we imagine.
a brief description of
The most obvious fact about ostriches is the giant growth of the bird, which can reach 2.5 meters. With this growth, individual individuals can reach a weight of 180-250 kilograms.
These are omnivores. Although they feed mainly on plant foods, they do not disdain worms and small animals.
Females and males can be identified by color. In males, the tail and wings are black and white, and the handbags are completely brown-gray. All ostriches have 2 fingers on each foot, with a long claw, up to 10 centimeters.
Birds are social birds and in the wild there are flocks of up to 100 individuals. But more often live in colonies of 10 birds. Ostriches have a hierarchy. Be sure to have a dominant female, or the main laying hen, as well as a male who protects the entire flock.
In a family of ostriches, both partners are engaged in hatching eggs. In clutch from 2 to 5 eggs. Kids are born after 40 days and after 2 days they are able to travel with their parents. The protection of the cubs is done by dad.
On average, ostriches live 30-40 years, but there are individual individuals that live up to half a century.
In the wild, ostriches live on the African continent, mainly in semi-desert areas. Due to the large number of farms for breeding these birds, they are not on the verge of extinction.
Head in the sand
The most interesting fact about ostriches is that they hide their head in the sand. This is actually a fallacy. For certain, it was not possible to understand why birds lay their heads on the ground. It is believed that they are trying to hear vibration from approaching animals, birds or other dangers. According to another version, ostriches collect a lot of food from the ground, these are the same worms, herbs, nuts, so very often their heads are lowered. According to the third version, birds often lay eggs in the mud, and to check the condition of future children, they bend to the ground.
Born runner
Another interesting fact about ostriches - they are great runners. Indeed, a bird can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. At the same time, it maintains this speed for a long time, up to 20 kilometers. This is only due to the fact that in the natural environment the bird has many enemies, so if you want to live, run. In Africa, only the cheetah runs faster.
The stride length of the bird is 3-4 meters. And high growth allows you to identify danger from afar. When an ostrich tries to slow down or change direction, it spreads its wings.
In some countries in Africa and the United States, ostrich racing is one of the most popular sightings. To this day, Arizona hosts a festival dedicated to these unique birds, where you can admire the races on them.
How does a bird sleep?
Another interesting fact about ostriches: birds sleep standing. At the same time, they often blink, and the head is always high. If you look at ostriches, it is impossible to understand whether they are sleeping or not.
Another interesting fact - in a dream, a bird is very abrupt and often passes from one phase of sleep to another, which allows it to quickly sleep. And most importantly, even in a dream, it is impossible to catch a bird by surprise.
Stones in the stomach
A bird needs about 3.5 kilograms of food per day. However, most foods require additional processing from this food. The birds do not have teeth, and the stomach does not always cope with nuts, lizards and other prey.
In lists of interesting facts about ostriches for children, it is often mentioned that indeed a bird eats stones, glass and other sharp small objects. She does this in order to additionally grind the incoming food in the stomach. However, over time, the stones are ground into dust and new ones are required. The platypus do the same.
The largest eggs in the world
Indeed, the ostrich has the largest eggs among all flightless birds. And this is quite justified, because the bird is the largest.
On average, 1 ostrich egg replaces 20 chicken eggs and weighs about 1.5 kilograms, that is, enough for a whole family for breakfast. In 2008, farmers in Sweden discovered an ostrich egg weighing 2.3 kilograms. This unique egg was listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
And what is most interesting about ostriches, or rather about their eggs, to get the contents, they often use a drill to drill at least a small hole. And to cook an egg, it will take at least two hours.
Marriage dance
In the mating season, males begin to dance in front of the females. Interestingly, males can dance not only in front of representatives of their own kind, but also in front of other species of birds, even in front of people. In this case, each bird in the dance shows individual traits in the movements.
At first, the bird sits on its knees, turning them to the other side and actively spreads its feathers, shakes them. Then the whole body of the male sways, his head nods. If the bird notices the interest of others in a certain movement, the male will begin to repeat it again and again.
African ostrich
Interesting fact: this is the only representative of the ostrich genus.
- Feathered recover from eating locusts.
- If the birds do not have the opportunity to swim, then they ride in dust and sand to clean the feathers of parasites.
- In the absence of water, ostriches eat the roots of asphodil, on such a diet they can last up to 6 days in a row.
In fact, despite its large size, the bird is very shy. When danger sets in, ostriches panic, rush about and try to escape. Only in extreme cases, the bird enters the battle, fighting off powerful claws, beak and spurs on the wings.
Ostrich is considered a good actor. If the danger threatens the kids, then the male runs in a zigzag, falls as if he was wounded, and while the predator chases after him, other individuals lead the young growth away from danger.
An interesting fact about ostriches - they never hide from the rain, even if there is a shelter nearby. And males sprinkle the first eggs with dust, but to this day they have not been able to understand why they are doing this.
Unique emu
These birds are slightly smaller than the African "brother". Emu lives in Australia. Some scientists believe that these birds were not rightly attributed to the genus of ostriches, they are a separate species. Indeed, in the 80s of the last century, the classification was revised, the bird was attributed to the genus Cassowary. Emu is the second largest bird of the flightless after the ostrich.
Earlier in the world, the genus emu was represented by three species, today only one remains. Emu is believed to have descended from a dinosaur. But it’s very easy to tame this bird, they are obedient and very curious.
The height of the bird is 190 cm and its weight is about 55 kg. Females of these birds are larger than males. Individuals of this species can reach speeds of up to 55 kilometers per hour, but the step width is only 2.75 cm. But the birds run about 25 kilometers per day. A bird can survive up to 20 years, but in captivity this period is reduced by half.
Interesting facts about emu ostriches:
- the bird perfectly tolerates temperature changes, from - 5 to +45 degrees Celsius;
- in birds of this species, no disease has ever been diagnosed;
- individuals have three fingers on the feet;
- birds live in solitude and never gather in flocks;
- individuals of this species are excellent swimmers;
- the bird swallows the whole food;
- male singing in the mating season is distributed 2 kilometers;
- the average egg size is 900 grams;
- kids gain weight quickly, 1 kilogram per week;
- the bird does not know how to back up, like the kangaroo.
Emu is the only bird in the world that has calf muscles on its legs.
