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Ostrich Head Down, small on Blackwood base
4cm Average
101-732 ...... 126 USD
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The only original, wild populations of ostrich live in the northern deserts of Namibia. Most others have been re-introduced in wildlife areas all over the subcontinent.
Two metres (7 feet) tall, this is the heaviest, largest bird in the world. The flightless ostrich is capable of 50 km per hour speeds on the ground and can defend itself very well with kicks of its powerful feet, which can disembowel a lion.
A lot of mythology surrounds the ostrich, mostly to do with its reputed lack of intelligence. The male ostrich is very handsome, black and white with a ginger tail. He sits on the eggs at night, while the brown plumage of the female camouflages the eggs during the day. The nest is just a shallow scrape in the ground. You’ll always see a couple of eggs scattered outside the nest - this, say the San Bushmen, is to remind the silly creature what it is doing. One ostrich egg is equal to about 2 dozen hen’s eggs, and so the Bushmen find it quite justifiable to steal one or two of the unviable ones left lying about.
Up to 15 youngsters will hatch early in the rainy season, but not that many make it to their first year.
Ostriches are foragers, wandering in small groups over great distances, from savannah to desert. They feed on succulent plants, berries, seeds and insects, and swallowing rough pebbles to help its crop grind the food consumed every day.
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