Habitat And Some Interesting Facts About The Ostrich

By Author: Cody Watson
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We all had seen ostrich in our childhood days. As a child, for anyone who sees an ostrich, it gives a dreadful feeling. We all know how fast an ostrich can run; that is about 16 times faster than the human beings! Let us now read some interesting facts and information about the ostrich.

The Ostrich is a large flightless bird that belongs to the family of Struthio and is a native of Africa. Other flightless that belong to the same order are cassowary, emu, and rhea. Several years back, the ostrich were spotted in large numbers in the Middle East parts of Africa. The region included the Sahara Desert and some of the densely spread grasslands in Southwest Africa. The uniqueness of the ostrich lies in its bulky appearance. They are considered as the tallest and heaviest birds in the world. Let us now take a look at some interesting information about the ostrich and their lifestyle.

According to the reports from the San Diego Zoo, it is to be believed that the male ostrich can measure up to a maximum height of 9 feet and an average height of 6-8 feet. The female ostrich is generally shorter with an average height of ...
... 6-6.5 feet. Comparing the weight, the male ostrich typically weigh as much as 250-300 lbs while the female ostrich are around 240 lbs in weight. The size of an ostrich egg measures around 11-12 inches in diameter and weighs about 3 lbs.

Last night I happened to watch a program entailing the ostrich and their lifestyle on Animal Planet with my newly-availed cable connection powered by one of the popular service providers that is ATT Digital TV. I would like to share some information about the food and water of the ostrich. Typically, an ostrich feeds on plants, roots, insects, lizards, and a few more of the small crawling creatures. When they don’t find food in their area, they even swallow small pebbles and stones for appease their hunger. You might wonder how they are able to digest the pebbles. Actually, the digestive system of the ostrich is unique and can even digest the hard materials. The ostrich like to get water from the moisture content found in the plants. However, they also drink the stagnating water from the holes and other small water bodies.

Fun facts about the ostrich

South Africa and the United States of America lead the world’s production of Ostrich. Some of the useful stuff derived from the Ostrich are their eggs, feathers, meat, leather etc. Contrary to the popular myth, the ostrich do not really bury their heads under the sand. If they are threatened by the presence of their predators and if they have no place to run or if they are exhausted, they immediately react by putting their head along the surface of the sand to hide themselves out of fear and stand still. Since the color of their heads is similar to that of the sand, there is a high probability that their predators may not be able to notice the ostrich. Another interesting fact about the ostrich is unlike other birds that have three or four toes, the ostrich have only two toes. Typically, an ostrich egg weighs about a couple of dozens of the hen’s egg. It normally takes about 40 days for an Ostrich egg to hatch. Moreover, the Ostrich have the largest pair of eyes among all other birds in the world. Each of their eye measures about a couple of inches in length that is bounded by three sets of eyelids. The ostrich are capable of running at staggering speeds of up to 43 miles per hour and can cover up to 16 feet in just one step.

Cody is a freelance writer and blogger. He writes on a slew of topics including entertainment, technology, environment, pets, food and tourism. He spends his leisure watching TV programs on channels like Animal Planet and Discovery on his cable connection powered by ATT Digital TV.