Ostrich
The fastest running bird on Earth — one kick can kill a lion
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Overview
The ostrich is the world's largest bird: up to 2.7 metres tall, 160 kg, and capable of sustained running at 45 km/h with sprint bursts to 70 km/h. It cannot fly. What it can do is kick with a force that has been documented killing lions. Each foot ends in a single large claw. It is not aggressive by nature — ostriches prefer to flee — but a cornered ostrich or one defending a nest is among the most dangerous birds a person can encounter.
Friendly fact
Ostrich pairs share incubation duties across the 24-hour cycle — the female sits on the nest during the day (her brown plumage blending with the surroundings), and the male sits at night (his black plumage making the nest nearly invisible in darkness). The colour split is not coincidental.
Fascinating facts
- 1
An ostrich's kick delivers force exceeding 500 kg — enough to kill a lion or disembowel a human. The single forward-facing claw on each foot acts as a dagger on the end of that force.
- 2
Ostriches can maintain 45 km/h for 30 minutes — long enough to outrun a horse over distance. Their stride can reach 4.9 metres at full speed.
- 3
The ostrich eye is the largest of any land animal, at 5 cm in diameter — larger than its brain. It can detect predators at distances up to 3.5 km.
- 4
Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. They lower their heads and necks to the ground to tend eggs or hide from predators — from a distance, this looks like head-burying.
- 5
Ostriches have a unique digestive system that includes a muscular gizzard containing swallowed pebbles, which grind food mechanically. They regularly swallow stones up to 4 cm in diameter to assist digestion.
Myth vs. Reality
Myth
Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared.
Reality
Ostriches never bury their heads. When alarmed, they run. When tending eggs in sandy ground, they lower their heads to turn eggs — an act that looks, from a distance, like head-burying.
Myth
Ostriches are harmless farm birds.
Reality
Farmed ostriches injure and occasionally kill handlers every year. Their kick reflex triggers easily and their size means there is no 'safe' proximity to an alarmed ostrich.