The largest bird in the world is the African ostrich. And I must say that these birds really impressive sizes grow. An adult ostrich can be up to 2.7 m tall, and at the same time it will weigh about 156 kg. But not only the large sizes of the ostrich attract attention to him, but also his manner of caring for a lady, hatching, and then raising offspring and a host of other interesting features.
Read more about ostriches and their habits in this article.
Where and how do African ostriches settle
African ostrich lives on a hot continent in the region of savannah and semi-desert, on both sides of the equator. Throughout his life, the male remains faithful to one dominant female. But since he, despite this, is polygamous, his family usually includes several more women, among whom he distinguishes his "lady of the heart." And so an ostrich family walks on the savannah: a male, a dominant female, several females by rank and ostriches.
You can often see how these beautiful birds graze with zebras or antelopes, making long transitions with them along the plains. Artiodactyls do not drive them away, because, thanks to their excellent eyesight and high growth, they can see a moving predator at a great distance - up to 5 km.
In case of danger, having emitted a warning sound, this huge bird rushes to the heels (and the speed of the ostrich in case of danger reaches 70 km / h). The herd, warned by a bird, is also thrown scattered. So having such a sentinel herbivore is very beneficial!
A bit about the power of an ostrich
Ostrich prefers not to face danger, but he cannot be considered cowardly, because if the bird still has to face a lion or other attacker, in battle it shows itself as a brave warrior. Strong ostrich legs are a great weapon. One blow of such a limb is enough to seriously injure, or even completely kill a lion or break a thick tree trunk.
No, the ostrich bird does not hide its head in the sand. She just prudently avoids danger, and even then only during the off-week period. And during nesting, or if it is impossible to avoid a collision, he meets everything like a real warrior. Ostrich fluffs feathers and begins to move on the enemy, and if he is not lucky to escape, they will trample him! This is probably why all the predators try to avoid meeting this bird, because they keep a respectful distance from the ostrich.
Ostrich - Flightless Bird
An ostrich cannot fly - this is a well-known fact. So nature ordered. He has poorly developed musculature in the thoracic region, wings are underdeveloped, and ostrich feathers, curly and loose, do not form tightly closed hard webs. Its skeleton is not pneumatic.
But then this bird runs faster than a horse! Her long two-fingered legs are perfectly adapted for long-distance walking and for running. Already at the age of one month, the ostrich’s speed can reach 50 km / h. A running ostrich takes steps, each up to 4 m long, and, if necessary, can make a sharp turn without slowing down, and even flatten on the ground.
By the way, how many fingers an African ostrich has helps him a lot in the process of walking. The fingers of the bird are flattened, equipped with pads on the sole. In addition, there are only two of them, and they very much resemble the outwardly soft hoof of a camel. No wonder the word "ostrich" is translated from Greek as "sparrow-camel." The larger of the fingers of the bird is equipped with something similar to a claw and a hoof - the bird rests on it during running.
What does an African ostrich look like?
What an African ostrich looks like is probably no secret - this is a dense bird with a long, featherless neck that is crowned with a flattened small head with large eyes and a beak.
The beak is soft, decorated on the beak with a cornified outgrowth. You can not ignore the huge eyes of the ostrich, pubescent with long eyelashes. Each of them, by the way, has a volume equal to the brain of this bird.
In males, the plumage is brighter than in females, which are decorated with gray-brown feathers with dirty-white tips on the tail and wings. And their gentlemen can boast of black “tailcoats” with bright white feathers on their wings and tail.
Different subspecies of the African ostrich differ mainly in the color of the neck, legs, size and some biological features: the number of eggs in the nest, the presence or absence of litter there, and the structure of the egg shell.
How an ostrich creates a harem
During the mating period, the current African ostrich creates a harem for itself. He spreads his wings, fluffs his feathers and slowly drops to his knees. Then she throws her head back and rubs it against her back - such a “gypsy” does not leave indifferent females who allow themselves to be covered and become members of the same family.
True, in this harem there will be one “first lady” - the dominant female, which the ostrich chooses once and for life. And the rest of the harem females may change from time to time. The “First Lady, ” of course, does not forget to periodically demonstrate who is the boss here, giving a thrashing to his comrades-in-arms.
In a family of ostriches, one can easily determine the rank of each. Ahead is the father of the family, followed by his "lady of the heart" with his head held high, and the rest of the females and cubs follow, bending their heads.
Ostrich speed is not its only feature
Ostrich eggs are laid in one nest, which the male will dig in the ground or sand. As a result, up to 30 of them are recruited there, and for ostriches living in East Africa, up to 60. True, the dominant female makes sure that her eggs are located in the center of the masonry, and the rest are around. This is how the law of survival works due to numbers.
An ostrich egg is the largest in the world (it is 24 times larger than a chicken), but if you compare it with the size of the brood hen, it is the smallest! Here is such an incident!
The dominant ostrich is sitting on the masonry during the day. It serves as a kind of conditioner for eggs, preventing them from boiling in 50-degree heat. And at night, a male climbs on them to save them from hypothermia.
How do ostriches develop
African black ostriches are born after 40 days with strong, covered with brownish, protruding bristles in all directions, and chicks weigh, as a rule, about 1.2 kg. They very quickly learn to understand how and what to eat, and after a couple of months they change their down to the same feathers as their mother’s, but they do not leave their family for another 2 years.
True, if the paths of two families with ostriches intersect in the savannah, then each of them will try to capture the kids and attach them to their brood. Because of this, there are families where up to 300 cubs of different ages are recruited.
In a year, the ostrich will be ready for independence, but for some time he will live with his brothers and sisters in one pack. Until his time comes to dance in front of the lady his amazing marriage dance.
Emu ostrich - not an ostrich!
Now we get from Africa to Australia. On this continent and on the island of Tasmania, an emu bird very similar to the African ostrich lives. Until the 80s of the last century, it was considered a relative of ostriches. But then their classification was revised, and now they belong to the order Cassowary.
After the ostrich, it is the second largest bird. In height, it grows to 180 cm, and weighs up to 55 kg. And outwardly, the emu resembles the described bird, although the body is more compressed from the sides and looks stocky, and the legs and neck are shorter, which, by the way, makes a completely different impression.
Emu ostrich (we will call it that in the old fashion) has a black-brown feather color, and its head and neck are black. Only specialists can distinguish the male from the female in these birds, and even then during the mating season.
Emu also knows how to run
Emu has an atypical feather cover that helps the bird to be active even in the midday heat. Feathers have a hairy structure and look like wool. Therefore, if the body of an emu, decorated with long feathers, looks like a living mop, then on the neck and head of the bird they are curly and short.
Like the African ostrich, it has long enough strong legs. Only with emu they are armed not with two, but with three three-phalange fingers. The speed of the ostrich in case of danger reaches 50 km / h, but this is not limited to the talents of birds. She still perfectly keeps on water and, despite her weight, can swim quite large distances.
How emu breed
Emu feed mainly on plant foods - grass, roots, berries and seeds. True, in times of famine, birds do not disdain insects. Since emu have no teeth, they, like African ostriches, are forced to swallow small stones so that the food that gets into the digestive system can be further crushed.
Emu in nature have virtually no enemies, so they live in small families - from two to five birds. In such a family, one male and several females. Emu males are wonderful dads. They take on all the burden of care for the offspring, starting from the moment when the female lays several eggs in the hole dug by them.
The fact is that, like African ostriches, these look after all the ladies of their flock immediately, so they have time to lay their eggs almost simultaneously. And to lay them off, the females are sent to the nest that the boyfriend showed. And so it turns out that in one place there are up to 25 eggs from different females. Emu ostrich egg is large, dark green, covered with a thick shell.
Emu male commits parental feat
Only male males are involved in hatching eggs. It is placed on the nest, and the female, on the contrary, leaves it as soon as all the eggs are laid. Hatching lasts up to 56 days. Moreover, no one replaces the male. Sometimes he allows himself to rise to stretch his legs, and walks around the nest or goes to drink water and eats a leaf or blade of grass along the way. The ration of the happy father is still limited to this.
Emu lose up to 15% of their weight during their incubation time, but this does not prevent them from being careful and caring dads, when after 2 months spotty and fluffy babies are born.
