Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Ostrich (Struthio camelus)





The ostrich is the biggest bird in the world with a male ostrich often growing more than 2 metres tall. The ostrich is also the world's fastest bird on the ground being able to run at speeds of up to 50 mph for short periods of time.
Despite the fact that the ostrich is a bird, the ostrich cannot fly and instead will run away when threatened. The ostrich weighs more than 100kg which is the main reason as to why the ostrich is unable to fly. The ostrich will also lay flat on the ground to hide from predators.
Contrary to popular belief, ostriches do not bury their heads in sand. This myth likely began with Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), who wrote that ostriches "imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of their body is concealed." This may have been a misunderstanding of their sticking their heads in the sand to swallow sand and pebbles, or, as National Geographic suggests, of the defensive behavior of lying low, so that they may appear from a distance to have their head buried.

wiki

6 comments:

Fram Actual said...

I am not certain I ever before have seen head and shoulders (well, head, anyway) portrait work done of an ostrich. I hope he (or she) will not be insulted too much if I describe the expressions as haughty and self-pretentious and even a bit arrogant. I suppose that is to be expected from the tallest and the fastest bird on the block.

Neat series, Daliana.

dmd. said...

..:)

Blitz said...

Funny and lovely images.

Cristina Deboni said...

Molto belle queste foto con un bel controluce e la modella posava bene! ; ) ciao

Jeanne said...

These shots are wonderful! I had such an image of ostriches being so shy, and was quite amazed at a drive through zoo to see that they were very agressive., and was amazed at how fast the galloped over to my car, knocking the food I had to throw right out of my hand. Scared me to death as i had an image in my mind of them burying their heads in the sand. LOL! Love the character that you have captured here

ionika said...

i guess you have a good camera..

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