Common Ostrich

Fun facts

• The largest and heaviest bird alive today — adult males reach 2.8 metres and 150 kg, far past the upper limit for powered flight, so the lineage abandoned it tens of millions of years ago.
• Also the fastest bird on land — sustained running speeds of 60 km/h with bursts to around 70 km/h, helped by a unique two-toed foot that works almost like a horse's hoof.
• An ostrich's eye is roughly 5 cm across — the largest of any land vertebrate — and bigger than its brain, which suits a long-sightlined open-plains lifestyle.
• A single ostrich egg weighs about 1.4 kg, the largest of any living bird; the shell is thick enough that a person can stand on it without breaking it.
• Ostrich females share a communal nest — the dominant hen takes the central, best-incubated spots, and other hens' eggs ring the outside, where predator losses are highest.