Ostrich-Information-Articles-Stories-Cartoons-Animations

Introduction


Ostrich
Ostrich holds the credit of being the largest among the modern birds. It weighs more than 300 pounds. Being a flightless bird with highly reduced wings, it is a powerful runner with strong legs. Ostrich egg weighs three pounds. It takes two hours to hard-boil an ostrich egg. One egg is equivalent to two- dozen chicken eggs and it takes only one ostrich egg to fill up a frying pan. In Africa ostrich egg is a delicacy. Ostrich lays its eggs in a scraped out hollow nest on the ground. In about two weeks the ostrich completes laying all its eggs. During this period other ostrich hens may also lay their eggs in the same nest. The male incubates the mass of eggs at nights. The female ostrich that laid the first group of eggs will incubate during the daytime. This hen is called the ‘Primary hen”. The primary hen obviously will have her eggs centrally located in the nest and receive greater protection. Eggs on the periphery of the nest may not be properly incubated and are not likely to hatch. Besides they are prone to be eaten away by the predators. Obviously those eggs that are laid first have greater survival value. Ostriches do not drink water. They obtain their water supply by eating succulent plants. The digestive system of ostrich is known for the long intestine that measures 15 yards. Ostrich will swallow even metal objects. Several man made objects like bolts, rings, wrist- watches were found in semi-digested condition in the intestines of dead birds. Ostriches may eat these objects out of curiosity even though of no nutritional value. The legs of ostrich are muscular and strong. The bird can run at 45 miles per hour in bursts. It can maintain a steady 30 miles per hour speed over a long period of time. When running, an ostrich’s stride may exceed 23 feet (7 meters). Ostrich is the only bird with 2 toes. The reduction in toe number is in adaptation to the running way of life in compensation for the loss of flight. Ostriches and zebras are always found together. This is for mutual safety. The ostrich with its long neck stretched out and with a powerful vision can spot an enemy from a distance and caution the zebra herd. If the predator manages to sneak in, the zebra can smell and caution the ostrich flock. The two, ostrich and the zebra put their powers of sense organs to effective use to escape from the predators.

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