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Common Ostrich
Struthio Camelus
General Description
Scientific Name: struthio camelus
Subspecies: ​​​
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North African Ostrich (S. c. camelus)
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South African Ostrich (S. c. australis)
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Massai Ostrich (S. c. massaicus)
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Arabian Ostirch (Extinct) (S. c. syriacus)
Status: Least Concern (decreasing)
Population Estimate: Unknown
Population in Assessed Areas: 2,116
Diet: Herbivore - mixed forager (some insects & small reptiles.
Male Size: 70-154 Kgs
Female Size: 60-120 Kgs
Trophy Size: N/A
Generation Length: 16.8 years
Reproductive Season: March-September
Time of Activity: Diurnal/ semi-nocturnal
Description: The common ostrich are the largest and heaviest living birds, with males (roosters) standing 2.1 - 2.75 m tall and weigh 100 to 130 kilograms), and females (hens) standing 1.75 - 1.9 m tall and weigh 90 to 120 kilograms. While exceptional North African male ostriches (S.c. camelus) can weigh up to 156.8 kg, some specimens in South Africa can only weigh between 59.5 to 81.3 kilograms. New chicks are fawn colored, with dark brown spots. After three months they start to gain their juvenile plumage, which is gradually replaced by adult-like plumage in their second year. At 4-5 months old, they are already about half the size of an adult bird, and after a year they reach adult height, but not till they are 18 months old will they be fully as heavy as their parents.
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The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with white primaries and a white tail. However, the tail of one subspecies is buff. Females and young males are grayish-brown and white. The head and neck of both male and female ostriches are nearly bare, with a thin layer of down. The skin of the female's neck and thighs is pinkish gray, while the male's is gray or pink dependent on subspecies.
Ecology: Common ostriches normally spend the winter months in pairs or alone. Only 16% of common ostrich sightings were of more than two birds. During breeding season and sometimes during extreme rainless periods ostriches live in nomadic groups of five to 100 birds (led by a top hen) that travel together with other grazing animals, such as Plains Zebras or Blue Wildebeest. Ostriches are diurnal, but may be active on moonlit nights. They are most active early and late in the day. The male common ostrich territory is between two and twenty square kilometres (3⁄4 and 7+3⁄4 sq mi), with larger territories being associated with very arid habitats.
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With their acute sight and hearing, common ostriches can sense predators from far away. When being pursued by a predator, they have been known to reach speeds in excess of 70 km/h (40 mph), or possibly 80 km/h (50 mph) and can maintain a steady speed of 50 km/h (30 mph), which makes the common ostrich the world's fastest two-legged animal. When lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear like a mound of earth from a distance, aided by the heat haze in their hot, dry habitat. When threatened, common ostriches run away, but they can cause serious injury and death with kicks from their powerful legs.
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They mainly feed on seeds, shrubs, grass, fruit, and flowers, and occasionally some insects , small reptiles, and very occasionally some carrion. Lacking teeth, they swallow pebbles that act as gastroliths to grind food in the gizzard. When eating, they will fill their gullet with food, which is in turn passed down their esophagus in the form of a ball called a bolus. The bolus may be as much as 210 mL (13 cu in). After passing through the neck (there is no crop) the food enters the gizzard and is worked on by the aforementioned pebbles. The gizzard can hold as much as 1,300 g (2 lb 14 oz), of which up to 45% may be sand and pebbles.
Common ostriches can go without drinking for several days, using metabolic water and moisture in ingested plants, but they enjoy liquid water and frequently take baths where it is available. They can survive losing up to 25% of their body weight through dehydration, allowing them to avoid competition and predation by occupying areas most other large animals struggle to occupy. Historically, these more arid areas of the world were strongholds for ostrich populations.
Predation: Common predators (who particularly prey on ostrich young) include the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), side-striped jackal (Canis adustus), lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyena (Hyaenidae sp), nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), and wild dog (Lycaon pictus).
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Most large carnivores tend to avoid predating on ostriches, partially because they are much faster than their usual prey, but also because of the deadly kicks they can deal towards their enemies. The most common predators of ostriches are cheetahs, which is the only carnivore that can match their speed, though the majority of this predation is carried out by coalitions of 2 or more males. As young though, they experience around 90% mortality, since they are very vulnerable at this stage of their life.
Reproduction: Common ostriches become sexually mature when they are 2- 4 years old, with females maturing about six months before males. The mating season starts in March or April, and usually sometime before September. The mating process differs in different geographical regions. Territorial males typically boom (by inflating their neck) in defense of their territory and harem of two to seven hens. The successful male will mate with several females in the area, but will only form a pair bond with a 'major' female. The cock performs with his wings, alternating wing beats, until he attracts a mate. They will go to the mating area and he will maintain privacy by driving away all intruders. They graze until their behavior is synchronized, then the feeding becomes secondary and the process takes on a ritualistic appearance. The cock will then excitedly flap alternate wings again and start poking on the ground with his bill. He will then violently flap his wings to symbolically clear out a nest in the soil. Then, while the hen runs a circle around him with lowered wings, he will wind his head in a spiral motion. She will drop to the ground and he will mount for copulation.
The female common ostrich lays her fertilized eggs in a single communal nest, a simple pit, 30- 60 cm deep and 3 m wide scraped in the ground by the male. The dominant female lays her eggs first; when it is time to cover them for incubation, she discards extra eggs from the weaker females, leaving about 20 in most cases. A female common ostrich can distinguish her own eggs from the others in a communal nest. Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, though they are actually the smallest eggs relative to the size of the adult bird – on average they are 15 cm (6 in) long, 13 cm (5 in) wide, and weigh 1.4 kg, over 20 times the weight of a chicken's egg and only 1 to 4% the size of the female. They are glossy cream-colored, with thick shells marked by small pits.
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The eggs are incubated by the females by day and by the males by night. This uses the coloration of the two sexes to escape detection of the nest. The drab female blends in with the sand, while the black male is nearly undetectable in the night. The incubation period is 35 to 45 days, which is rather short compared to other ratites, likely due to the high rate of predation. Typically, the male defends the hatchlings and teaches them to feed, although males and females cooperate in rearing chicks. Fewer than 10% of nests survive the 9-week period of laying and incubation, and of the surviving chicks, only 15% of those survive to 1 year of age. However, among those common ostriches who survive to adulthood, the species is one of the longest-living bird species.
Conservation Analysis
Current & Historic range: Common ostriches formerly occupied Africa north and south of the Sahara, East Africa, Africa south of the rainforest belt, and much of Asia Minor. Today common ostriches prefer open land and are native to the savannas and Sahel of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. In southwest Africa they inhabit the semi-desert or true desert, as well as several areas of grassland savannah habitat in protected areas, as well as on hunting properties across the region. Today, the South African subspecies, that ranges over large areas of south Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia is the most common, with both North African and Masai populations experiencing population losses and range contractions due to habitat change and over exploitation.
The Arabian ostriches in the Near and Middle East were hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century. Attempts to reintroduce the common ostrich, using the North African subspecies, into Israel have failed, likely because of inadequate space, food and water in the habitats that they provided.
Current & Historic Populations: The wild common ostrich population has declined drastically in the last 200 years, with most surviving birds in protected reserves, hunting properties, farms, and in some arid areas where human populations are low. There has been no formal attempt at calculating it's overall population. However, its range remains very large (9,800,000 km2 or 3,800,000 sq mi), leading the IUCN to treat it as a species of least concern. Of its five subspecies, the Arabian ostrich (S. c. syriacus) became extinct around 1966. North African ostrich populations are protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning commercial international trade is prohibited and non-commercial trade is strictly regulated.
The range of the North African Ostrich shown in orange, the Masai ostrich shown in green, and the South African Ostrich shown in red. The closely related Somali ostrich is shown in yellow.
Extinct relatives of the common ostrich, the East Asian Ostrich and the Asiatic Ostrich, Species that were once widespread across northern and parts of South Asia, were also likely impacted by humans entering the area. These species where physiologically different to common ostriches though, being significantly heavier (between 200-270 kg's) and more robustly built.
Threats to Species Survival: The primary threats to common ostriches are human development, competition with livestock, and over exploitation through overharvest of adults and eggs. Their ability to exist in large areas of extremely arid land provides significant protection, but as the growing population of Southern & Eastern Africa begins to encroach into these areas, ostrich populations are under threat. Across their entire range though, their populations are faring well, with likely over a million animals spread out across their entire range, with strongholds in Namibia and South Africa.
Recommended Conservation Actions:​
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Further resource and manage protected areas where blue wildebeest populations exist.
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Reintroduce blue wildebeest to areas they formerly occupied, such as Malawi, central Namibia, and large areas of South Africa.
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Set harvest quotas and trade regulations for specific blue wildebeest populations.
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Improve survey methods to get accurate population data, such as implementing long-term monitoring programs.
Economic & Cultural Analysis
Ecotourism Value: Moderate-High
Hunting Value: High
Meat Value: Very High
Average Trophy Value: $500-800 USD
Meat Yield per Animal: 34-88 kg
Economic Value/Impacts: Common Ostriches have been utilised by local economies across Africa, Asia minor and parts of the European Mediterranean region for thousands of years. Today, the largest value derived from ostriches is their meat, feather and leather value from captive raised individuals, with many thousands of animals raised in captivity in countries like South Africa for this very reason. The meat is lean, but also possesses the nutrient density similar to beef, making it a healthy alternative to domestic red meat. They are also increasingly popular with the hunting industry, though their trophy fee is usually much lower than other sympatric antelope species.
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Their value to the ecotourism industry varies significantly, depending on the ecosystem as a whole. In areas where an abundance of more iconic fauna are present, they are usually outshone by them. But since they are a recognizable species that is easy to spot, they still draw significant attention to tourists.
Cultural Value: Common ostriches have inspired cultures and civilizations for 5,000 years in Mesopotamia and Egypt. For instance, a statue of Arsinoe II of Egypt riding a ostrich was found in a tomb in Egypt. Hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari use ostrich eggshells as water containers, punching a hole in them. They also produce jewelry from it. The presence of such eggshells with engraved hatched symbols dating from the Howiesons Poort period of the Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa suggests common ostriches were an important part of human life as early as 60,000 BP.
Research conducted by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in India found molecular evidence that ostriches lived in India 25,000 years ago. DNA tests on fossilized eggshells recovered from eight archaeological sites in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh found 92% genetic similarity between the eggshells and the North African ostrich, so these could have been fairly distant relatives.
Eggs on the oil lamps of the Church of Saint Lazarus, Larnaca, Cyprus In Eastern Christianity it is common to hang decorated common ostrich eggs on the chains holding the oil lamps. The initial reason was probably to prevent mice and rats from climbing down the chain to eat the oil. Another, symbolical explanation is based in the fictitious tradition that female common ostriches do not sit on their eggs, but stare at them incessantly until they hatch out, because if they stop staring even for a second the egg will addle. This is equated to the obligation of the Christian to direct his entire attention towards God during prayer, lest the prayer be fruitless.