Facts about Ostrich
The ostrich feather is durable, soft and flexible, which accounts for the success of the ostrich feather duster over the last 100 years.
The head and neck of both male and female Ostriches is nearly bare, but has a thin layer of down (Gilman 1903).
The first ostrich feather dusters were wound on broom handles using the foot powered kick winder and the same wire used to attach broom straw.
The ostrich belongs to the Struthioniformes order of (ratites), along with rheas, emus, cassowaries, and the largest bird ever, the now-extinct Elephant Bird (Aepyornis).
The life span of an Ostrich is from 30 to 70 years, with 50 being typical.
Ostrich meat tastes similar to lean beef and is low in fat and cholesterol, as well as high in calcium, protein and iron (Clark).
Ostriches are native to savannas and the Sahel of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone (Donegan 2002).
The ostrich is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio.
Like all ratites, the ostrich has no crop (Bels 2006), and it also lacks a gallbladder (Marshall 1960).
When threatened, the ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground, or will run away.
Ostriches have been hunted and farmed for sport, leather, food, feathers, and eggs.
The last belief persisted and evolved in heraldry, where the ostrich is represented with a horseshoe in its mouth, symbolic of its iron-eating ability (Cooper 1992).
Ostrich races in the United States have been criticized by animal rights organizations.
Ostriches become sexually mature when 2 to 4 years old; females mature about six months earlier than males.
An adult ostrich typically carries about 1 kilogram of stones in its stomach.
The ostrich represents light and water for the Dogon people, its undulating movement symbolic of water movement (Cooper 1992).
The diet of the ostrich mainly consists of seeds and other plant matter, though it eats insects.
Ostriches have been hunted and farmed for their feathers, which at various times in history have been very popular for ornamentation in fashionable clothing (such as hats during the nineteenth century).
Ostriches are large, weighing from 93 to 130 kg (200 to 285 lb) (Gilman 1903), although some male ostriches have been recorded with weights of up to 155 kg (340 lb).
Ostriches share the order Struthioniformes with emus, rheas, kiwis, and other ratites.
Ostrich feathers were sorted for quality, color, and length before being wound in three layers to the handle.
When threatened, ostriches run away, but they can cause serious injury and death with kicks from their powerful legs (Donegan 2002).
The ostrich's behavior is also mentioned in the Bible in God's discourse to Job (Job 39.13-18).
Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, though they are actually small relative to the size of the bird.
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.
Analyses of mitochondrial DNA showed that existing red wolf populations are predominantly coyote in origin (DOB 2008).
Beyond this, with their large size and unique form and behavior, ostriches add to the wonder of nature for humans.
Ostriches live in nomadic groups of 5 to 50 birds that often travel together with other grazing animals, such as zebras or antelopes (Donegan 2002).
The Roman writer Pliny the Elder is noted for his descriptions of the ostrich in his Naturalis Historia, where he describes the ostrich and the fact that it hides its head in a bush.
The Arabian ostriches in the Near and Middle East were hunted to extinction by the middle of the twentieth century.
Ostriches can go without water for a long time, exclusively living off the moisture in the ingested plants (Maclean 1996).
Ostriches do deliberately swallow sand and pebbles to help grind up their food; seeing this from a distance may have caused some early observers to believe that their heads were buried in sand.
The original South African ostrich feather dusters were invented in Johannesburg, South Africa by missionary, broom factory manager, Harry S. Beckner in 1903.
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.
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 and as petroglyphs.
The ostrich has been hunted in the past and is farmed in many areas all over the world, providing leather, food, eggs, and feathers.
The wings of ostriches are not used for flight, but are still large, with a wingspan of around two metres (over six feet) (Donegan 2002), despite the absence of long flight feathers.
At one year of age, ostriches weigh around 45 kilograms (100 pounds).
Elsewhere, ostriches are mentioned as proverbial examples of poor parenting.
The original South African ostrich feather dusters were invented in Johannesburg, South Africa by missionary, broom factory manager, Harry S. Beckner in 1903.
The first ostrich feather dusters were wound on broom handles using the foot powered kick winder and the same wire used to attach broom straw.
The ostrich was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his eighteenth century work, Systema Naturae (Linnaeus.
The coloring of an ostrich's neck is similar to sand and could give the illusion that the neck and head have been completely buried.
mtDNA haplotype comparisons suggest that it diverged from the other ostriches not quite 4 million years ago at the time of the formation of the Great Rift Valley.
Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, though they are actually small relative to the size of the bird.
An ostrich is a bird. ... No, ostriches aren't mammals because they don't have fur like animals and and they don't have teeth like mammals do. They do not nurse their young, as mammals do. Ostriches, though they don't fly, are classified as birds .
The ostrich or common ostrich (Struthio camelus) is either one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member(s) of the genus Struthio, which is in the ratite family.
Ostriches can run at speeds of up to 43 miles per hour, but they are no match for the cheetah, which tops out at 75 miles per hour.Oct 2, 2015