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| Ostrich
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| Struthio camelus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Ostrich (Struthio camelus, Greek "sparrow camel") is the largest living bird, reaching a height of up to 2.5 metres (8 feet). It has a long neck and legs, is flightless, and is capable of running at about 65 km/h (40 mph). Living in the wild in Africa, it is farmed all over the world.
Male ostriches weigh up to 155 kg and are larger than females. The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with some white at the wings and tail. Females and young males are greyish-brown, with a bit of white.
The small vestigial wings are used by males in mating displays. They can also provide shadow to the chicks. The feathers are soft and quite different from the stiff airfoil feathers of flying birds. They serve as insulation. There are claws on two of the wings fingers.
The strong legs don't have feathers. The bird stands on two toes, with the bigger one resembling a hoof. This is an adaption unique to ostriches which appears to aid in fast running.
The eyes of ostriches with their thick black lashes are the biggest eyes of all living land animals; only whales have bigger ones.
Ostriches belong to the ratiteStruthionidae Casuariidae Dinornithidae Apterygidae Rheidae A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanian origin, most of them now extinct. All belong to the order Struthioniformes . Unlike other flightless birds, the ratitess; other members of this group include rheasRhea americana Rhea pennata Rheas are large flightless birds native to South America. The name was given in 1752 by Paul Mohring (his reason for choosing this name, from classical mythology, is not known). Rheas are polygamous with males courting between, emusDromaius novaehollandiae ''Dromaius baudinianus (extinct) Dromaius ater (extinct) The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae which, in Latin, means "fast-footed New Hollander", referring to Australia, whose old name was New Holland) is the largest bird native to Au, cassowariesCasuarius casuarius ''Casuarius unappendiculatus ''Casuarius bennetti Cassowaries ( genus Casuarius are very large flightless birds native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and Australia. Some nearby islands also have small cassowary populations: it i and the largest bird ever, now extinct, AepyornisAepyornis was a genus of flightless bird. These large birds, which were native to Madagascar, have been extinct since at least the 16th century. Aepyornis was the world's largest bird, believed to have been over three metres (10 feet) tall and weighing mo. Ostriches are the only members of their familyIn biology, family is one of the levels of taxonomic classification of organisms. It lies between the less-specific order and the more-specific genus; ie, an order will contain one or more families, and a family will contain one or more genera. Humans, fo, Struthionidae.
The distribution of ostriches in Africa
Ostriches occur naturally on the savannaSavanna is a grassland dotted with trees, and occurs in several types of biomes. In savannas, grasses form the predominant vegetation type, usually mixed with herbs and shrubs, with trees scattered individually or in small clumps. Savannas are sometimes as and semi- deserts of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. Five subspecies can be distinguished:
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