With their acute eyesight
and hearing, they can sense predators such as lions from far away.
In popular mythology, the ostrich is famous for hiding its head
in the sand at the first sign of danger. The Roman writer, Pliny
the Elder is noted for his descriptions of the ostrich in his
historia naturalis, where he describes the ostrich and the fact
that it hides its head in a bush. There have been no recorded
observations of this behaviour. The myth may have resulted from
the fact that, from a distance, when ostriches feed they appear
to be burying their head in the sand because they deliberately
swallow sand/pebbles to help grind up their food. When lying down
and hiding from predators, the birds are known to lay their head
and neck flat on the ground. When threatened, ostriches run away,
but they can also seriously injure with kicks from their powerful
legs.
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Ostriches become
sexually mature when 2–4 years old. The mating process differs
in different geographical regions. Territorial males will typically
use hisses and other sounds to fight for a harem of 2–5
females. It will form a pair with one dominant female and breed
with all of them. The female cowers on the ground and is mounted
from behind by the male. The females will lay their fertilized
eggs in a single communal nest, a simple pit scraped in the ground
and about 30–60 cm deep. Ostrich eggs can weigh 1.3 kg and
are the largest of all eggs, though they are actually the smallest
relative to the size of the bird.
Images: 001-003.jpg courtesy Us Fish and Wildlife Service
004-009.jpg courtesy Schmode.net
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