2 February: National Ostrich Day

Today is National ostrich day, so here are 10 things you might not know about ostriches:

1. Ostriches belong to the order Struthioniformes. There are two species: the common ostrich (Struthio camelus – because of the ostrich’s likeness to Camels, it used to be called “camel bird”) and the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes) which has been recognised as a separate species since 2014. Both live in Africa.
2. They’re the biggest birds in the world, and have the biggest Eyes of any land animal. Their eyes are about the size of a billiard ball and are bigger than their Brains.
3. They also have the largest Eggs. Ostrich eggs are 15cm long, weigh as much as two dozen chicken eggs, and a single ostrich egg contains 2000 calories, which is about the total daily recommended intake for an adult woman. However, ostrich eggs are the smallest in terms of relative size to the adult bird.
4. They lay their eggs in communal nests which are about 3m across. The dominant female’s eggs get the prime location in the middle where they are less likely to get pushed out. Male and female ostriches co-operate in the incubation of eggs and rearing of chicks. The female does the day shift sitting on the nest as her drab plumage blends in with the sand, and the male, with his black plumage, does the night shift as he’s harder to spot in the dark.
5. Ostriches have three stomachs.
6. They can run faster than any other bird, or indeed any other two legged creature. They can sprint at over 70 km/hr, covering up to 5m in a single stride. Their feet are designed for running. Most birds have three to four toes on each foot, but an ostrich has just two. This is believed to reduce the mass at the end of the ostrich’s legs and improve the ostrich’s ability to run. Humans have studied the ostrich’s running form and been inspired by it. Mechanical robot feet have been based on ostriches, and also the locomotion of the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park as ostriches are probably the closest living approximation to them in terms of size and gait.
7. Ostriches don’t bury their head in the sand when threatened. Nature is too smart to have a bird that can run at 70km/hour do that. When threatened, they’ll generally leg it. The myth could have come from seeing them caring for their eggs. Some ostrich nests are up to 2 feet deep, and when they bend down to rotate their eggs it may well look as though they’ve buried their head in the sand.
8. Ostriches can’t fly, but this doesn’t mean their wings are completely redundant. Ostriches’ wingspan is about 2 metres and they use them in mating displays, to shade chicks, and their own upper legs and flanks, and as “rudders” to help them change direction while running.
9. In some African countries, people race each other on the back of ostriches using special saddles, reins and bits. In Florida, ostrich racetracks were common in the late 19th century. Tourists could pay a small fee to ride an ostrich around the track.
10. In the wild, ostriches live an average of 30 to 40 years. In captivity, they can reach 70, and continue to breed well into old age. Though captive ostriches raised by humans are as likely to turn their courtship displays towards their human keepers as to other ostriches.

Character birthday

Duplex: Alien with probability altering powers from Penultima, second planet from the sun in the Numerrus system. The planet has two virtually identical moons which has led to a planet wide veneration of the number two. Hence Duplex will always defend characters who are twins or part of a partnership.