Ostrich Nandu - description, habitat, interesting facts

Ostrich is a unique bird of its kind: having a weight of up to two and a half meters and a weight of up to 150 kg, they cannot fly. It is worth hearing the word "ostrich", as Africa and Australia immediately emerge in the minds, where these flightless birds mainly live. But there is another continent that is the birthplace of one of the species of these birds - South America. And it will be about the Rhea.

Historians say that this bird appeared a very long time ago. There is even an opinion that she was the first of the kind of birds having something in common with ostriches. People met the panda back in the 16th century, the Indians kept them as livestock, using eggs, feathers, skin and eating tasty meat. In addition, ostriches were used as draft power and as dogs. There are two types of Nanda - small (Darwin) and ordinary (Northern).

Description

Ostrich Nandu is inferior to African and Australian in size. So, the growth of the largest bird does not exceed one and a half meters. And by weight they will be lighter than the African counterparts - the mass ranges from 35-45 kg. Plumage covers the neck - feathers are soft and dense. The legs are also slightly different from the extremities of other species - they are not two fingers each, but three, connected by a membrane. Pandu is like a bird and has wings, but they are used only as a balancer when the ostrich runs on long strong legs. He turns out to run well - develops speed on a par with a car - up to 60 kilometers per hour.

Lifestyle

In hot weather they spend most of the day in the water, fleeing the heat and swimming.

Ostriches live in small flocks of 30-45 individuals, sometimes about a hundred individuals can live together. When the time comes for mating, the flock is divided into small groups. There is no clear hierarchy. In general, the rhea are self-sufficient birds and are kept by the team only because it is easier to ensure safety - both their own and their relatives. If there is no danger in the territory of residence, then males aged leave the flock and begin to live alone.

Nandu has no migration, they live in one place, without changing it for years. Only during some natural disasters - in case of fires, for example - do you have to withdraw from the settled territories and wander to new ones.

Food

Nanda is an omnivorous bird, so it will not disappear from hunger. Preferring plant foods, eat grass (alfalfa or clover) and grain, gnaw plants, reach for branches and pick fruit with berries, dig up rhizomes, are not averse to catch an insect, some crayfish, spider, beetle and other arthropod, catch fish. Without excessive squeamishness, carrion and excrement of other animals are eaten. They are said to be good snake hunters, but this has not been scientifically proven. Like camels, they can not drink for quite a while and do without water, replenishing the fluid in the body with food. From time to time, small pebbles (the so-called gastrolites) are swallowed to improve the digestive process.

Breeding

Ostriches become sexually mature in the third or fourth year of life. They are polygamous, during the mating season they are divided into groups consisting of one male and several (up to seven pieces) females. The group leaves away from the herd and fertilization occurs.The male digs a hole about half a meter deep, and ostrich women lay there straw-colored eggs (about 30-35 pieces). Large eggs - up to 22 cm long, 13-14 cm long. Shells wide and up to 0.5 mm thick. Not only large, but also heavy - the weight of the testicle can be more than two kilograms (this is about 30-40 eggs, but it can be up to 60). Different females carry different eggs, and the shell is shiny and coated with gloss or porous and matte.

The male is engaged in incubation at night, while ostrichs are on duty during the day, replacing each other - good, the protective color allows you to go unnoticed. After 35-45 days, ostriches are born. And they do it like this: about an hour before hatching, the chick begins to hammer with its beak at certain points on the shell of the egg with all its strength. After making several holes, he breaks the shell with the back of his head, which is why many newborns have hematomas on the back of the head. True, fast-passing. When chicks hatch from all eggs, the male destroys the eggs that did not produce offspring. This serves the emergence of a huge number of flies, which feed the children.

Ostriches are born sighted, physically developed, with a gun on the body, their weight is 1.1-1.2 kilograms. Being able to move well from the first hours of life, they leave with dad to seek food. In the first 2 months, their body is covered with yellow-black bristles, a little crown of red color, dark stripes pass along the whitish-dirty neck. Only after a year and a half, the children grow up and turn black. Parents fight among themselves for taking care of the brood - the winner (usually the father turns out to be) takes care of the chicks until they grow up to about six months of age. He protects them from all sorts of adversities, covering them with his large wings.

Interesting Facts

1. In addition to South America, a small amount of nandu lives in Germany. And they came to German nature as a result of an incident: on one of the ostrich farms where they lived there were fragile enclosures, not high enough hedges and undisciplined working personnel (yes, there are slobs in Germany too!). Several couples simply ran away and began to live and live in natural conditions, quickly multiplying. Now, scientists from all over the world go to this place to study how ostriches behave in winter.
2. By and large, the rhea (along with emu and cassowary) are not ostriches. At the end of the 19th century, they were allocated into a separate family - the nanduiformes. But, thanks to the stunning similarities with ostriches, they are considered and called this class.
3. When the rhea sees any danger or is dissatisfied with something, it screams loudly and piercingly. The cry consists of two syllables - “nand! Do!” Therefore, the bird bears such a nickname. And he can hiss eerily, in the manner of an angry cat. Such a hiss works - the enemies get scared and run away.
4. In order for parasitic insects to leave the body, ostriches bathe in sand and dust.
5. There was a time when the population was threatened with extinction - ostrich hunting almost completely exterminated the panda. But the opening of ostrich farms helped rectify the situation.
6. They are said to be good snake hunters, but this has not been scientifically proven.
7. Among the nandus there are many albinos with white feathers and light blue eyes.
8. Ostrich is famous for the beauty of feathers. Contrary to popular belief, they are not pulled out, but carefully cut off next to the skin, doing the procedure twice a year.
9. Ostriches live long (if they do not fall into the hunter's scope) - about 70 years.
10. At the tip of the wing, the Nanda has a sharp claw, which comes in handy in battles with opponents and during mating games. But he uses it quite rarely.
11. Often, the rhea is combined with the cows, deer or llamas grazing nearby, which benefits both parties. Birds notice danger due to excellent eyesight, and animals can smell the enemy. It turns out a kind of symbiosis.
12. These walking birds have few enemies - jaguars, coyotes and cougars.For the most part, birds die due to shooting - people like panda meat and eggs. Yes, and farmers shoot birds that have come to their land, because they believe that there is a lot of harm from them.
13. Now ostriches are bred because of meat, feathers and eggs, making special farms and creating conditions for living.
14. The ostrich runs away from enemies and pursuers not in a straight line, but in zigzags, trying to confuse the tracks. The fugitive may suddenly fall, stretching out its paws and neck. Grass hides the bird, and the pursuers believe that it is gone. After some time, the Nanda sharply jumps up and rushes in the other direction.
15. Many beauties would envy the eyes of the panda - they are large and with thick fluffy eyelashes.
16. The shell of ostrich eggs is thick and strong - they say that Indians holding nanda in the household used eggs as kitchen utensils.

Video: Ostrich Nandu (Rheidae)