The booming call of the ostrich, which is made mainly at night, resembles a lion’s roar. The common ostrich is a flightless bird that lives on the continent of Africa in savanna and semi desert plains. They are the largest and heaviest bird in the world and lay the largest eggs of any animal. They can run at over 40 mph.
The scientific name for the common ostrich is Genus: Struthio and specific name: camelus. This makes the binomial name for the ostrich Struthio camelus. Losely translated from ancient Greek the scientific name means thrush / sparrow camel. Ostriches occur in savanna and semi desert plains. Because the ostrich can’t fly it must run away from predators or other threats. The open habitat offered by savanna and desert allows the ostrich to reach its top speed of 43.5 mph unincumbered.
An ostrich does have a pair of wings but can’t fly. They are the largest and heaviest bird. They have strong powerful legs which can act as a weapon and enable them to quickly run away from danger. The world’s heaviest bird that can fly is the kori bustard. Ostriches have a range of noises which they use to communicate, this includes chirps, honks, honks, hissing, grunting, drumming and booming. The hissing is the universally understood message of stay away. Booming is done by male ostriches during the mating season.
Credit : Fascinating Africa
Picture Credit : Google
