The ostrich is the only species in its family, although the east African or Masai ostrich is sub-classified. The ostrich is found throughout Africa and parts of the middle east.

The ostrich is the world’s largest living bird found in a range of habitats from bushveld to desert. It is flightless but has the ability to run at great speeds – personally timed at 57 km/h. The call of the male can be confused with the distant roar of a lion. The males have an elaborate mating display during courtship and the front of his legs and parts of his neck turn a reddish-pink colour.

The bushman people believe that the ostrich cannot fly because god gave them the secret of fire and told ostrich to guard it at all costs, so the ostrich put the secret under his wing and vowed never to open them. Man however managed to trick ostrich and steal the secret but ostrich to this day keeps his promise to protect the secret from others and does not fly.

More beliefs

Another long-held belief is that ostriches put their heads in the sand to hide but this is not true. Where the belief may stem from is the fact that ostriches have small heads and will feed from the ground, and from a distance it may seem as if the ostrich has his head in the sand as the small head is not visible.

Ostriches feed on a wide variety of berries and seeds, grass, succulents, reptiles and insects. They sometimes ingest stones to aid in the digestion and are also known to swallow shiny objects. Why this is done is not certain but records of very strange objects have been made.

Predators

Ostriches, especially males, are very protective of their nests and have been known to cause damage to intruders. A fairly common sight is an ostrich at full pace across the African landscape chasing a small predator such as a jackal, that had been trying to get at the ostrich nest or young chicks, attempting to avoid the angry bird.

Adult ostriches are preyed on by lions, leopard and cheetah with hyenas and wild dogs also recorded hunting them. Ostrich chicks are vulnerable to all the larger predators but with the added dangers of the smaller predators such as jackal and caracal.

Ostriches in history

Man has utilized ostrich products since the early hunter-gatherer days when the eggs were used as water storage vessels and the ancient Egyptians used ostrich feathers as adornments over 5000 years ago. Today the San still use ostrich eggs as water storage vessels and also manufacture necklaces from broken pieces. In the nineteenth century ostrich feathers were used to adorn headgear for the rich and famous and today ostrich meat is becoming more popular as an alternative to red meat. The skin is used to manufacture fashionable dress accessories.