Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure

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Fast Facts:

Mature male ostrich are easily distinguished from mature females. Female ostrich feathers are mostly brown. Male birds are mostly black with white feathers on their tails and outer portions of their wings.
Ostrich cannot fly because they have such small wings for their body size. Instead, they rely on their powerful legs that are adapted for running.
They can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour.

Red-Necked- Ostrich

Scientific Name:	Struthio camelus
Classification:	Phylum Chordata; Class Aves; Order Struthioniformes; Family Struthionidae
Status:	Some wild populations are declining in the wild due to hunting and egg collecting. Many ostrich are raised in the United States.
Range:	In the wild, ostriches are native to Africa, although the bird is found worldwide as domesticated animal.
Habitat:	deserts to savannas
Diet:	In the wild, ostrich eat grasses, bushes, trees and insects.
Size:	Weight: Adults will weigh from 200 to 350 pounds.
Location:
Print Fact Sheet	Ostrich

Special Features:

Breeding & care of young:

Females will usually lay their eggs in a group nest, creating a gathering of 15-50 eggs. Male ostriches sit on the eggs at night, and females sit on them during the day.

If there are too many eggs on the nest, the female ostrich will roll the surplus eggs out of the nest. A female seems to be able to recognize her own eggs and is careful to not roll those out.

During the mating season, males patrol and defend their territories. When one male begins to enter the territory of another, the defending male will "display" by raising his wings and flicking them back and forth. Males also emit deep, loud "booming" calls and inflate their bright red neck skin as they patrol their territories.