Nature gave the ostrich bird a huge growth - up to 2.5 meters in males, outstanding for birds weighing up to 250 kilograms, and a serious force: with a kick, it can bend one and a half centimeter iron rod. And how he runs! The horse will not steal.

Appearance and features

His long muscular legs end with two fingers: this makes running easier, and the ostrich develops a speed of 50-70 kilometers per hour without any special effort, supporting it for a rather long time. The length of his step is up to 3.5 meters; to slow down or change direction, he spreads his wings.

High growth provides a wide field of view, allowing the bird to distinguish between potential hazards from afar. Such a strategic position, combined with highly developed hearing and vision, makes ostriches a natural guardian and pilgrim of the steppes. Their huge eyes, they are larger than all other terrestrial vertebrates, are well adapted to desert conditions.

Thick long eyelashes, as well as a blinking membrane protect them from harmful sandy winds. A wide ear opening, picking up the weakest sounds, completes the perfect security system. The living space of ostriches extends from dry treeless savannas to the borders of deserts.

But they prefer semi-desert zones with enough grass. Ostrich bird day begins shortly before sunrise, and ends shortly after sunset, with peak activity occurring in the first and last hours of daylight hours.Birds are able to tolerate extreme heat and even in the hottest hours they do not seek refuge in the shade - their body temperature rises to 42 C, and thus they do not have to spend water on perspiration. When night comes, ostriches tend to return to the same place. Group members are positioned so as to constantly see or hear each other.

Ostrich food

The main concern of the ostrich bird is to find food, approximately 3.5 kilograms per day. Although ostriches prefer grains, fruits, and flowers, they sometimes prey on insects, such as grasshoppers or locusts, on lizards, and even eat small birds.

Ostriches are herd birds. The size and structure of the groups depend on the nature of the area and the time of year. Usually, with the exception of the mating season, adults gather in groups of 5-10 birds, although lonely ostriches are also found. In desert areas or during prolonged droughts, ostrich bird clusters can be seen around the water source. Young ones often form much larger groups of up to 100 individuals. The structure of such associations is quite informal, everyone can join them or leave of their own free will.

Ostrich Nests

In the savannah of East Africa, female ostriches lay their eggs mainly in August. When the mating season begins, the males build a nest in the very center of their possessions, which they will guard for five months. At this time, they regularly emit a deep roar, remotely similar to the lion's. Males scream to attract the attention of females to the nesting place and drive other males away from mating territory. The nest is a hole about thirty centimeters deep and a meter in diameter.

Ostriches were once monogamous. However, the barbaric extermination of males “on feathers” led to the fact that there were too many lonely females. In order to survive, ostriches were forced to resort to polygamy: several friends are concentrated around the male, one of which plays the role of the “main wife”. It is she who alternately with the male and hatches eggs. There are also “secondary” females in the family, laying their eggs in a strange nest. As a rule, they do not hatch chicks.

Plumage of ostriches

In the mating season, the plumage of males becomes especially bright. The ostrich’s neck and neck are adorned with amazing bright blue feathers. During the mating season, the males raise their tail, spread their wings and fold alternately. The “main” female usually has twice as many eggs as her friends; each of them lays an egg every two days.

As a rule, from an ostrich's nest there are from 20 to 35 eggs - if it gets bigger, the extra ones are thrown out. Usually an egg is about 15 centimeters in length, its diameter is 12 centimeters, and its weight reaches one and a half kilograms. In the daytime, the “main female” incubates and guards the masonry, and at night - the male. This is due to the colors of the birds: gray females are less visible during the day, black males are almost invisible at night.

Ostriches

Chicks in the clutch hatch almost simultaneously. The difference between the first and last is usually no more than three days. Sometimes the baby has to spend many hours to completely free from the shell. Helps her break a dense horny growth on the beak.Because of its prickly fluff, similar to bristles, the hatched ostrich resembles a hedgehog rather than a chicken. For the first time, ostriches' hours of life can hardly raise their heads.

During the day they do not eat and acquire the ability to follow their parents only 48 hours after they were born. From this moment, the chicks can already run away in case of danger. If they notice the persecution, they scatter to the sides, and then suddenly throw themselves to the ground and freeze.

At this time, parents are trying to divert the attention of the enemy. The female runs in one direction, the male in the other; both of them describe large zigzags and drag wings, as if they were broken. If a predator begins to pursue one of the adults, the second stops pretending and tries to take the chicks away. To protect ostriches from the rays of the sun, the mother collects them under her wings. Chicks for a long time still remain a prey for predators, mortality among them is quite high.

At two months old, ostriches have bristled down, and their plumage becomes the same as that of adult females: the difference in plumage between males and females is not visible until two years. Up to nine months, the chicks go to a kind of "nursery", where one or more adult birds observe them. Young growth reaches full maturity only by three to four years.