Oscar the Ostrich

This one is for the kids.  Please share with them.  (Words & Photos by Robert B.)

OSCAR THE OSTRICH

©Robert C Burnham

Gather round me kids

There's a tale that I must tell

Of big old Oscar the Ostrich

Who was my neighbor for a spell

He spent his days with his long neck

Peeking over my fence wall

And spent his nights running around the yard

So fast I thought that he would fall

Some folks think that he was cute

But to me, he was ugly as sin

He kept taking pictures of himself

And that's where the trouble begins

He would send me so many photos

Of his furry little face

I knew I was going to go crazy

If I didn't leave that place

So now I have moved away

My only neighbor a quiet mouse

And Oscar the Ostrich is happy

Because he now has my old house

The Ostrich is the largest living species of bird.  It is a flightless bird meaning it cannot fly.  There are four living species of ostriches all coming from Africa.  The southern African Ostrich is simply referred to as ostrich.  The other three species include the Masai Ostrich of East Africa, The Red-Necked Ostrich of North Africa and the Somali Ostrich of Somalia and Ethiopia.  There was a fifth species, the Arabian Ostrich, which roamed Iraq and Syria but has been extinct since the 1960s. 

God talks directly about ostriches in the Bible.  In the oldest book of the Bible, Job, God is explains to Job that the ostrich is proud of its small wings, negligent to its offspring (ostriches are bad parents) and pretty much lacks any wisdom. 

To compensate for these shortcomings, the ostrich is blessed with tremendous speed and can easily outrun the fastest horse. The strong legs of the ostrich lacks feathers and the bird stands on two toes, with the large toe resembling a hoof.  This adaptation is the main reason that ostriches can attain a speed in excess of forty miles an hour!  Although this great speed is their greatest defense, they are still slower than many of their predators such as Cheetahs and Leopards. 

To help them survive such predators, ostriches have some of the keenest hearing and acute eyesight in all of the animal kingdom.  With such eyesight and hearing they are able to detect danger when it is still far off.  Of course, lacking wisdom, these birds will sometimes wait too late to get out of harm's way.   

Ostriches live in nomadic groups of five to fifty birds and they often travel together alongside other grazing animals such as zebras and antelopes. 

It is a popular notion, beginning during the Roman Empire through today, that ostriches will hide their heads in the sand at the first sight of danger.  In truth, there has never been any recorded observation of such a behavior.  Any creature who would in fact perform such a ploy, would not survive long.

Although their numbers have been reduced in the wild, the remaining species of ostriches are in no danger of becoming extinct as they are globally farmed for their leather and their meat.