Ostrich

'Dustbin' of the bird world

At up to 2.7m tall, the ostrich (Struthio camelus) is the largest living bird and the fastest 2-legged animal. It can reach speeds of 65 km per hour.

The male has black plumage except for its white wing tips and tail. The female is brown with a pale edging to the feathers. Only 1 species of ostrich survives today, living mostly in eastern and southern Africa. In some parts of the world, ostriches are farmed for their meat and feathers.

Ostriches are known as the ‘dustbins’ of the bird world, because in captivity they sometimes eat anything and everything they can find, including nails and paint brushes! Of course, in the wild, ostriches seldom come across things like this but they do eat stones to help them grind up food. Wild ostriches feed on grasses and other plants, and small animals like insects and frogs.

Head in the sand
There is a common belief that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they sense danger (the expression ‘burying your head in the sand’ means that you want to ignore a problem) - this is not true. It may be that an ostrich looks as though it has its head in the sand when bent over to feed. The misunderstanding may also have come from the fact that Ostriches will lay their necks and head on the ground in an attempt to disguise themselves as a bush when they sense danger.