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"Dustbin" of the bird world
The ostrich is the largest living bird and the fastest
two-legged animal. The male has black plumage except for
its white wing tips and tail. The female is brown with a
pale edging to the feathers. Only one species of ostrich
survives today. In some parts of the world, ostriches are
farmed for their meat and feathers.
Ostriches are known as the "dustbins" of the bird world,
because in captivity they sometimes eat anything and
everything they can find, including nails and paint brushes!
Of course, in the wild, ostriches seldom come across things
like this. Wild ostriches feed on grasses and other plants,
and small animals like insects and frogs. Like all birds,
though, ostriches need to eat hard things like small stones
to help them grind up their food inside their gizzards.
This is why they pick up bizarre objects in captivity!
As for the belief that ostriches bury their heads in the
sand when they sense danger (the expression "burying your
head in the sand" means that you want to ignore a problem)
-- it is untrue. But when an ostrich sits on its nest, its
reaction to danger is to lower its head towards the ground.
The ostrich hopes its enemy will then mistake it for a
termite mound or low bush!
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