Ostriches the facts

Ostriches the facts, The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a flightless bird native to Africa. It is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae, & its genus, Struthio. They are distinct in their appearance, with a long neck & legs & the ability to run at speeds of about 65 km/h (40 mph). Ostriches are the largest living species of bird & are farmed in many areas all over the world. The scientific name for the ostrich is from the Greek for "camel sparrow" in allusion to their long necks. A documentry on ostriches explaining about them would be a good idea.

Ostriches usually weigh from 90 to 130 kg (200 to 285 pounds), although some male ostriches have been recorded with weights of up to 155 kg (340 pounds). The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with some white on the wings & tail. Females & young males are grayish-brown, with a bit of white. The small vestigial wings are used by males in mating displays. They can also provide shade for chicks. The feathers are soft & serve as insulation, & are quite different from the stiff airfoil feathers of flying birds. There are claws on two of the wings' fingers. The strong legs of the ostrich lack feathers. The bird stands on two toes, with the bigger one resembling a hoof. This is an adaptation unique to ostriches that appears to aid in running.

At sexual maturity (two to four years old), male ostriches can be between 1.8 m & 2.7 m (6 feet & 9 feet) in height, while female ostriches range from 1.7 m to 2 m (5.5 ft to 6.5 ft). During the first year of life, chicks grow about 25 cm (10 inches) per month. At one year, ostriches weigh around 45 kg (100 pounds). An ostrich can live up to 75 years.

The ostrich belong to the Struthioniformes order (ratites). Other members of this group include rheas, emus, cassowaries & the largest bird ever, the now-extinct Aepyornis. However, the classification of the ratites as a single order has always being questioned, with the alternative classification restricting the Struthioniformes to the ostrich lineage & elevating the other groups to order status also. Presently, molecular evidence is equivocal while paleobiogeographical & paleontological considerations are slightly in favor of the multi-order arrangement.

Ostriches are native to the savannas & the Sahel of Africa, both north & south of the equatorial forest zone. Five subspecies are recognized:

S. c. australis in Southern Africa
S. c. camelus in North Africa, sometimes called the North African Ostrich or Red-necked Ostrich. They are the most widespread subspecies, ranging from Ethiopia & Sudan in the east throughout the Sahel to Senegal & Mauritania in the west, & at least in earlier times north to Egypt & southern Morocco, respectively.
S. c. massaicus in East Africa, sometimes called the Masai Ostrich. During the mating season, the male's neck & thighs turn pink-orange. Their range is essentailly limited to most of Kenya & Tanzania & parts of Southern Somalia.
S. c. syriacus in the Middle East, sometimes called the Arabian Ostrich or Middle Eastern Ostrich, was a subspecies formerly very common in the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, & Iraq; it became extinct around 1966.
S. c. molybdophanes in Somalia, Ethiopia, & northern Kenya, is called the Somali Ostrich. During the mating season, the male's neck & thighs turn blue. Its range overlaps with S. c. massaicus in northeastern Kenya.

Analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species. mtDNA haplotype comparisons suggest that it diverged from the other ostriches not quite 4 mya due to formation of the Great Rift Valley. Subsequently, hybridization with the subspecies that evolved southwestwards of its range, S. c. massaicus, has apparently been prevented from occurring on a significant scale by ecological separation, the Somali Ostrich preferring bushland where it browses middle-height vegetation for food while the Masai Ostrich is, like the other subspecies, a grazing bird of the open savanna & miombo habitat.

The population from Río de Oro was once separated as Struthio camelus spatzi because its egg shell pores were shaped like a teardrop & not round, but as there is considerable variation of this character & there were no other differences between these birds & adjacent populations of S. c. camelus, it is no longer considered valid. This population has disappeared in the later half of the 20th century. In addition, there have been 19th century reports of the existence of small ostriches in North Africa; these have been referred to as Levaillant's Ostrich but remain a hypothetical form not supported by material evidence. Given the persistence of savanna wildlife in a few mountaineous regions of the Sahara, it is not at all unlikely that ostriches too were able to persist in some numbers until recent times after the drying-up of the Sahara.

The earliest fossil of ostrich-like birds is the Central European Palaeotis from the Middle Eocene, a middle-sized flightless bird that was originally believed to be a bustard. Its distribution indicates that its ancestors must have flown across the ocean which at that time separated the continents from each other, & this indicates that theories about evolution & dispersal of the ratites need much more research before a consensus can be reached. Apart from this enigmatic bird, the fossil record of the ostriches continues with several species of the modern genus Struthio which are known from the Early Miocene onwards. While the relationship of the African species is comparatively straightforward, a large number of Asian species of ostrich have been described from very fragmentary remains, & their interrelationships & how they relate to the African ostriches is very confusing. In China, ostriches are known to have become extinct only around or even after the end of the last ice age; images of ostriches have been found there on prehistoric pottery & as petroglyphs. There are also records in maritime history of ostriches being sighted way out at sea in the Indian Ocean & when discovered on the island of Madagascar the sailors of the 18th century referred to them as Sea Ostriches, although this has never been confirmed.

Several of these fossil forms are ichnotaxa & their association with those described from distinctive bones is contentious & in need of revision pending more good material.

Struthio coppensi (Early Miocene of Elizabethfeld, Namibia)
Struthio linxiaensis (Liushu Late Miocene of Yangwapuzijifang, China)
Struthio orlovi (Late Miocene of Moldavia)
Struthio karingarabensis (Late Miocene - Early Pliocene of SW & CE Africa) - oospecies(?)
Struthio kakesiensis (Laetolil Early Pliocene of Laetoli, Tanzania) - oospecies
Struthio wimani (Early Pliocene of China & Mongolia)
Struthio daberasensis (Early - Middle Pliocene of Namibia) - oospecies
Struthio brachydactylus (Pliocene of Ukraine)
Struthio chersonensis (Pliocene of SE Europe to WC Asia) - oospecies
Asian Ostrich, Struthio asiaticus (Early Pliocene - Late Pleistocene of Central Asia to China)
Struthio oldawayi (Early Pleistocene of Tanzania) - probably subspecies of S. camelus
Struthio anderssoni - oospecies(?)
Ostriches live in nomadic groups of 5 to 50 birds that often travel together with other grazing animals, such as zebras or antelopes. They mainly feed on seeds & other plant matter; occasionally they also eat insects such as locusts. Lacking teeth, they swallow pebbles that help as gastroliths to grind the swallowed foodstuff in the gizzard. An adult ostrich typically carries about 1 kg of stones in its stomach. Ostriches can go without water for a long time, exclusively living off the moisture in the ingested plants. However, they enjoy water & frequently take baths.

With their acute eyesight & 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 Naturalis Historia, where he describes the ostrich & the fact that it hides its head in a bush. There have been no recorded observations of this behavior. A common counter-argument is that a species that displayed this behavior would not likely survive very long. 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. Burying their heads in sand will in fact suffocate the ostrich.When lying down & hiding from predators, the birds are known to lay their head & neck flat on the ground, making them appear as a mound of earth from a distance. This even works for the males, as they hold their wings & tail low so that the heat haze of the hot, dry air that often occurs in their habitat aids in making them appear as a nondescript dark lump. When threatened, ostriches run away, but they can also seriously injure with kicks from their powerful legs.

The ostrich's behavior is also mentioned in the Bible as part of in God's discourse to Job (Job 39.13-18). It is described as joyfully proud of its small wings, unmindful of the safety of its nest, treats its offspring harshly, lacks in wisdom, yet can put a horse to shame with its speed. Elsewhere, ostriches are mentioned as proverbial examples of bad parenting.

Ostriches are known to eat almost anything (dietary indiscretion), particularly in captivity where opportunity is increased.

Ostriches can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. In much of its habitat, temperature differences of 40°C between night- & daytime can be encountered. Their temperature control mechanism is more complex than in other birds & mammals, utilizing the naked skin of the upper legs & flanks which can be covered by the wing feathers or bared according to whether the bird wants to retain or lose body heat.

Ostriches become sexually mature when 2 to 4 years old; females mature about six months earlier than males. The species is iteroparous, with the mating season beginning in March or April & ending sometime before September. The mating process differs in different geographical regions. Territorial males will typically use hisses & other sounds to fight for a harem of two to five females (which are called hens). The winner of these fights will breed with all the females in an area but only form a pair bond with one, the dominant female. The female crouches on the ground & is mounted from behind by the male.

Ostriches are oviparous. The females will lay their fertilized eggs in a single communal nest, a simple pit scraped in the ground & 30 to 60 cm deep. Ostrich eggs can weigh 1.3 kg & are the largest of all eggs, though they are actually the smallest eggs relative to the size of the bird. The nest may contain 15 to 60 eggs, with an average egg being 6 inches (15 cm) long, 5 inches (13 cm) wide, & weigh 3 pounds (1.4 kg). They are shiny & whitish in color. The eggs are incubated by the females by day & by the male by night, making use of the different colors of the two sexes to escape detection. The gestation period is 35 to 45 days. Typically, the male will tend to the hatchlings.

The life span of an ostrich can extend from 30 to 70 years, with 50 being typical.
In the past, ostriches were mostly hunted & farmed for their feathers, which used to be very popular as ornaments in ladies' hats & such. Their skins were also valued to make a fine leather. In the 18th century, they were almost hunted to extinction; farming for feathers began in the 19th century. The market for feathers collapsed after World War I, but commercial farming for feathers & later for skins, took off during the 1970s.

The Arabian Ostriches in the Near & Middle East were hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century.

Today, ostriches are bred all over the world, including climates as cold as that of Sweden & Finland. They will prosper in climates between 30 & -30 °C, & are farmed in over 50 countries around the world, but the majority are still found in Southern Africa. Since they also have the best feed to weight ratio gain of any land animal in the world (3.5:1 whereas that of cattle is 6:1), they are bound to appear attractive to farmers. Although they are farmed primarily for leather & secondarily for meat, additional useful byproducts are the eggs, offal, & feathers. It is traditional to place seven of the large eggs on the roof of an Ethiopian Orthodox church, to symbolise the Heavenly & Earthly Angels.

It is claimed that ostriches produce the strongest commercially available leather1. Ostrich meat tastes similar to lean beef & is low in fat & cholesterol, as well as high in calcium, protein & iron.

Ostriches are large enough for a small human to ride them; typically, the human will hold on to the wings while riding. They have been trained in some areas of northern Africa & Arabia as racing mounts. Ostrich races in the United States have been criticized by animal rights organizations, however; there is little possibility of this becoming a widespread practice, due to the fact that the animals are difficult to saddle (and ostriches are known to have a rather irascible temper).

Ostriches are classified as dangerous animals in Australia, the US & the UK. There are a number of recorded incidents of people being attacked & killed. Big males can be very territorial & aggressive, & can attack & kick very powerfully with their legs. An ostrich will easily outrun any human athlete. Their legs are powerful enough to eviscerate large animals.
The town of Oudtshoorn in South Africa has the world's largest population of ostriches. Many farms & specialized breeding centres have been set up around the town such as the Safari Show Farm & the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm. The CP Nel Museum is a museum that specializes in the history of the ostrich.

The Middle Eastern Ostrich or Arabian Ostrich (Struthio camelus syriacus) is an extinct subspecies of the ostrich which once occurred on the Arabian Peninsula & in the Near East. Its range seems to have been continuous in prehistoric times, but with the drying-up of the Arabian Peninsula, it disappeared from the inhospitable areas of the Arabian Desert such as the Rub'al-Khali. In historic times, the bird seems to have occurred in 2 discrete subpopulations: a smaller one in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula & a larger one in the area where today the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq & Syria meet. Towards the Sinai Peninsula, it probably intergraded with the North African subspecies camelus in earlier times. It looked exactly like that form; possibly, the females were of a slightly lighter coloration. The only certain way to distinguish camelus & syricaus was the smaller size of the latter, with only marginal overlap: the tarsus was 390-465 mm long in syriacus versus 450-530 mm in camelus.

The Arabian Ostrich has long had a significant place in the culture of the region. It is featured in prehistoric petroglyphs dating several millennia BC, for example an adult with 11 offspring on the famous "Graffiti Rock I" near Riyadh. In Mesopotamia, it was used as a sacrificial animal & featured in artwork; cups & other objects made from ostrich eggs, apparently of this subspecies, were traded as far as Etruria during the Neo-Assyrian period.

The Jewish view was less favorable; the fact that the female ostrich may leave the nest unattended (as the eggs are too thick-shelled to be easily broken open by predators) is the reason why the bird was chastized as a bad parent in the Book of Job (Job 39:13-18) & the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations 4:3). The Arabian Ostrich is possibly among the birds forbidden to Jews as unclean under the kashrut in Leviticus (Leviticus 11:16), though the Israelites would just as likely have known the birds from the North African subspecies which was extant in the Nile Valley of Egypt at that time.

In Roman times, there was a demand for ostriches to use in venatio games or cooking. These birds usually would have come from the North African subspecies rather than from the Arabian one, as the latter was only found in the unruly frontier regions of the Roman Empire, although it is to be noted that much later, the plumes of the Arabian ostrich were considered superior material for millinery compared to those of the North African subspecies.

After the rise of Islam, the Arabian Ostrich came to represent wealth & elegance; ostrich hunting became a popular pastime for the rich & noble (if butchered properly, ostrich meat is halaal to Muslims) & eggs, feathers & leather were extensively used in handicraft. Arabian Ostrich products as well as live birds were exported as far as China. A Tang Dynasty source states that the "camel bird" inhabiting Arabia is

"four chi & more in height, its feet resembling those of a camel; its neck is very strong, & men are able to ride on its back...".

The Arabian Ostrich was also discussed in Mesopotamian scholarly writings from the time of the Baghdad Caliphate, such as Zakariya al-Qazwini's cosmography Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat, the Kitab al-Hayawan ("Book of Animals") of Al-Jahiz, or Ibn al-Manzur's dictionary Lisan al-Arab.

The widespread introduction of firearms & , later, motor vehicles marked the start of the decline towards extinction of this subspecies. Earlier, hunting with bow, arrows & dogs had allowed most animals of a group to escape, but rifles enabled the hunters to shoot down many individuals for the sheer fun of it. By the early 20th century, the Arabian Ostrich had become rare. Its main stronghold was the northern Nefud northwards to the Syrian Desert, between latitudes 34°N & 25°N & longitude 38°E eastwards to the Euphrates valley, & it was most plentiful in Al Jawf Province, where it associated with herds of the Saudi Gazelle & the Arabian Oryx, both also extinct or very rare, respectively, nowadays. Some of the last sightings include an individual east of the Tall al-Rasatin at the Jordanian-Iraqi border in 1928, a bird shot & eaten by pipeline workers in the area of Jubail in the early 1940s (some sources specifically state 1941), two apocryphal records of birds suffering the same fate in 1948, & a dying individual found in the upper Wadi el-Hasa north of Petra in 1966. Remains of old eggs are still found in the former range of the southern subpopulation, which disappeared between the 1900s & the 1920s, probably mainly because of increasing aridity. Following analyses of mtDNA control region haplotypes that confirmed the close relationship of the Arabian & the North African subspecies (Robinson & Matthee 1999), a reintroduction project using S. c. camelus was set up in Saudi Arabia, after their regime people had helped hunt the original species to extinction.

Other intresting facts about the species include how they are sometimes kept as pets by some people. I heard of a case in Linya where somebody had a pet one, in their large house lept in a yard. & it did mating dances with people, that could get dangerous. The eggs used to not be the largest when the Madagascan Elephnat birds were still in existance.

The ancient Egyptians used to have allot of trade via Nubia, & it's iron making civilisation which would bring in ostrich feathers across from Africa's central Areas. They were considered a luxery item.

Ostriches sometimes can be found running faster than a horse on a open desert, or crowding in herds of 10 or so in South Africa.

They have nests on the ground, filled with a few eggs, often behind bushes, which the chicks stay in for a while. in a few numbers, together.

A site on the terrorbirds. A type of bird 10 feet tall that could eat people, from 2 million years before us, with stuff about other huge birds too

Here are some more sites, there are books & articles on the subjects in many internet places, or internet book shops,

A site on giant sloths, with mentions of animals that have been alive during the era of human history, that have gone extinct, from them to many other great species

A graph of all human history very interesting, to the story of humankind, brilliant, saying the great stories, & animals, humans saw.

100s of Great Websites, on 100s of great subjects

The Story of Homo Floresiensis, the 3 foot tall people who lived in Idonesia thousands of years ago

The Last Neanderthals

A site on islands, around the world, talking of them, as if they are lost worlds, you could go back to this page.

A site on dangerous animals, such as which are bigger than people, & which are poisonous

A site on magical things in nature, like herbs & such, & more exiting things,