The Ostrich
By Mwende Kyalo
I grew up being told African folktales. And one remarkable thing about them is how they seamlessly included the environment. Plants and animals in those stories were as important and as real as human beings. At times, the animals were even given human attributes such as the ability to speak.
One animal that stood out was the Ostrich. My mother once told me a story that had an ostrich. I don't remember exactly what happened, but it had a sweet song about the Ostrich and its eggs.

And as I grew up, I heard tales about people's exploits with the Ostrich. And 90% of those tales had something to do with its eggs. One told me how they had to use alot of cooking oil to fry just one egg. My uncle told me how they had to use a panga to cut the egg. Another told me how they used to hunt for the Ostrich's eggs.
At first I thought the stories a bit exaggerated. I mean, what kind of an egg needs a panga(machete) to cut it? I could imagine a big egg. But i couldn't fathom a hard egg. Eggs by nature are fragile. Or so I thought.
But my 8yr old brother hasn't heard much about the Ostrich. He knows more about a character called Spongebob Square parts than of an animal that was part and parcel of his grandma's life.
So today I sought to find out more about this bird that's not exactly a bird. And facts about an Ostrich are pretty interesting.
I'm sure we've all heard about the proverbial hiding-your-head-in-the-sand like an Ostrich. Well, guess what? Its a myth! Ostriches don't hide their heads in the sand. Like at all. If they sense danger and can't run for some reason, they lie low. With their long neck and head right in front of it. Maybe that's why people thought that the head is hidden in the sand; because when its flat on the ground, one can clearly see the body but not the neck or head. This kinda shocked me a bit. I would have sweared Ostriches hide their heads in the sand when in danger.
And that could be no further from the truth. Ostriches rarely freeze when in danger. They use either flight or fight.
When it comes to Flight, they are arguably number 2 in the jungle. Yeah, you heard that right. And number 1 isn't the Lion. Since most Ostriches are found in Africa Savannah, only the Cheetah can outrun it in these parts. Thus the cheetah is among its top predators. Otherwise, clocking a speed of 70km/hr, the Ostrich outruns almost all other animals in the jungle.
But in case there is danger and the Ostrich has young ones around or can't run for any other reason, then they fight. The kick of an Ostrich is lethal enough to kill a lion. Just one kick. An Ostrich is that muscular or strong.
Speaking of young ones: it turns out that all those things I heard about its eggs are true. An Ostrich's egg is times 20 the size of a hen's eggs. It measures approximately 15cm long×13cm wide. And its hard. So hard that jackals and other animals that prey on its eggs, use stones to pry it open. Ancient communities used the egg shells to store oils besides making ornaments from the hard material.

But to ensure the eggs survive to hatch, the Ostrich incubates the eggs nest. This means lying on top of it. And here comes another fact I found interesting. The male Ostrich is the one who makes the nest.
Now to backtrack a bit, Ostriches mostly live in groups of 10 or less. Mainly made up of one male, called the dominant male and a head female then several other females.

To attract a mate, the male uses its colours- black and white feathers, and dances while stamping its foot. If the female is pleased with the dance show, they start feeding together and hanging around together till their behaviours are synchronized. They can then start a family.

The female Ostrich is brownish in color. While an immature Ostrich has greyish feathers.
So now the dominant male Ostrich makes a nest for its wives. Its a communal nest. And when its time to incubate them, extra eggs are removed. The eggs from the weaker females are removed first. Till they remain approximately 20 eggs.

During the incubation period,female Ostriches incubate the eggs during the day while the male Ostriches during the night. And before you think its due to progressive feminism, it boils down to the colour of the Ostriches. A female ostrich is brown, thus will blend well with the surrounding environment during the day. A male Ostrich is black in color, thus will blend well during the night. And on they go on till the eggs hatch after approximately 42 days.
And unlike humans who take 18years to reach to a debatable maturity, the Ostrich chicks mature very fast. 30cm height per month. But their survival rate is extremely low. Less than 10% of the chicks survive to the first year. But once they make it past that, they are eligible for the 62year life span of an average Ostrich.
Well, I admit that I have found the Ostrich way more interesting than I would have imagined.
Now, I only need to see one in close promixity. And maybe ride one;)
