The Common Ostrich, a flightless bird, is found in zoos all over the world but it is native to Africa. The common ostrich (struthio camelus) is one of two extant species of ostriches, the other is the Somali Ostrich. The common ostrich is about six to nine feet tall, depending on the gender, and they weigh up to around 300 pounds. This makes the ostrich the largest living bird on the planet, and around half their height comes from their long necks. The male ostrich has black feathers and white primaries with a white tail, and the female is brown and grey. Their heads have a thin layer of down feathers, and their legs have no feathers. Their bills are relatively small, their eyes are very large, and their eyelashes are thick. Unlike most birds, ostriches have only two toes, the first of which is similar to a hoof with a nail, and the second is smaller with no nail.

Their large eyes give them impeccable vision, they can see predators from a far distance. They often look up from eating to look around. When they see predators, they may lie down flat on the ground to hide, or they might run. Ostriches are fast runners, they can comfortably run at 31 mph and they can reach around 43 mph when threatened. When they run, they often run in a weird zig zag pattern using their wings to help them maneuver. Their predators include cheetahs, lions, spotted hyenas, and other large carnivores. Ostriches can also fight, and when cornered, they can seriously injure, or even kill, another animal.

The common ostrich eats plants, seeds, flowers, and other plant matter, but sometimes they’ll eat locusts. They also eat pebbles to help them digest food (they have no teeth). The ostrich enjoys taking baths and drinking when possible, but they can go several days without water. They take the moisture from inside plants to sustain them. Depending on the season, ostriches will travel by themselves, in pairs, or in nomadic flocks of 5-100. If there is little food, flocks are more likely. Sometimes large groups will come together at a drinking hole. There have also been occurrences of flocks of ostriches traveling with other nomadic flocks like zebras or antelopes.

Mating season starts in March-April and ends before September. Ostriches start being able to mate at around 2-4 years old. Common ostriches have a mating ritual that starts with a male beating his wings to attract a mate. They will then go into a private area and graze until they are synchronized. Then, the male will beat his wings again and peck on the ground. He will then violently flap his wings to symbolically clear a nesting spot. Then, the female will run around the male and he will wind his head in a spiral. When the female drops on the ground, the male will mount and copulate. The male often fights with other males over a harem of 2 - 7 (usually 3-5) females. Whichever male wins will mate with the group of females. He first copulates the alpha. He will mate with multiple, but he’ll form a nesting partnership only with the alpha female.

The nest is a hole a foot deep and three meters wide. The female alpha will lay her eggs first, then, the other females will put her eggs in. Females lay 2 - 12 large (ostrich eggs are the biggest eggs of any bird), cream colored, thick, and porous eggs. The nest can fit around 20. So if there’s too many, the alpha female will discard the weaker females’ eggs. The female incubates in the morning because she blends in with the sand, and the male incubates at night when it’s hard to see him with his dark feathers. After around 40 days of incubation, the eggs hatch. Crazily, less than 10% of eggs hatch, and only 15% of those who did make it to one year. After a month after being hatched, the babies can keep up with their parents. Even though so few ostriches make it to one year, when they reach one year, they stay alive for a long time with wild ostriches living up to around 44 years old.

Unfortunately, ostriches have lossed many species and populations due to humans. They are often hunted for their skin (which makes good leather), their eggs, and their feathers. If it wasn’t for ostrich farming, ostriches would probably be extinct today.