Ostrich

The largest and heaviest of all living birds, the ostrich (Struthio camelus) is instantly recognisable, with its long, bare neck, large body and long, sturdy legs. Despite its relatively small head, it is also notable for having the largest eyes of any land animal, measuring an impressive five centimetres in diameter, and protected by long black lashes. The adult male ostrich has black plumage, with a white tail and primary feathers, and a bright pinkish or blue neck in the breeding season. The female is smaller and is grey-brown in colour, while immature birds resemble the female, but are slightly darker. Four subspecies are recognised, differing mainly in the colour of the neck and legs of the male, and in the amount of feathering on the head. Not needed for flight, the ostrich’s feathers are unusual in that they lack the tiny hooks that hold the feather together, so leaving the barbs (the ‘branches’ of the feather) loose, and giving a very soft, smooth plumage. The ostrich is also the only bird to have just two toes on each rather prehistoric-looking foot. The inner toe is thick and strong, adapted for running, and is armed with a formidable, ten centimetre long claw, which can be used in defence. The ostrich has quite an extensive vocal repertoire, using a variety of whistles, snorts and guttural noises to communicate, as well as other sounds such as bill-snapping. The male also produces a loud “booming” call, which sounds rather like the roar of a lion and is produced during display, or at night when a predator is near. Despite being flightless, the ostrich can run up to 70 km per hour, making it the fastest running bird!

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Animals in Locations
Jungle
Asiatic Striped Squirrel • Bengal Tiger • Indian Runner Duck • Marsh Crocodile • Plain Parakeet • Striped Hyena • Tiger Snake
Rainforest
Armadillo • Anaconda • Amazon River Dolphin • Amazon Weasel • Ahaetulla Nasuta • Anteaters • American Crow • African Forest Elephant • Bee • Baltimore Oriole Bird • Bluebirds • Cougar (Puma) • Chinchilla • Caiman • Chicken • Condor • Capuchin Monkey • Coyote • Crab • Capybara • Crested Porcupine • Cotton-Top Tamarin • Domestic Duck • Deer Mouse • Dodo • Emerald Tree Boa • Eastern Lubber Grasshopper • Eastern Cottontail • European Rabbit • Flat-Backed Spider Tortoise • Flying Foxes • Gray Hawk • Giant Fishing Spider • Green Iguana • Gray Fox • Gray Ratsnake • Gossamer-Winged Butterflies • Grizzly Bear • Harpy Eagle • Howler Monkey • Jaguar • Kinkajou • Ladybug • Leptictidium • Mitchell's Rainforest Snail • Monarch Butterfly • Maned Wolf • Morpho Butterfly • Mullet Fish • Metridiochoerus • North American River Otter • New World Warbler • Ogygoptynx Owl • Orinoco Crocodile • Sumatran Orangutan • Pygmy Marmoset • Philippine Flying Lemur • Queen (Butterfly) • Red-Eyed Tree Frog • Rufous Hummingbird • Russian Tortoise • Ring-Tailed Lemur • Sloth • Spider Monkey • Spectacled Bear • Scarlet Macaw • South American Coati • South American Tapir • Sumatran Rhinoceros • Striped Skunk • Toucans • Tree Frogs • Tarantulas • White-Lipped Peccary • Woodpecker • White-Crowned Sparrow • Whirligig Beetles • White-Tailed Deer •
Caves
Andrewsarchus • Chinchilla • Creech Owl • Eurasian Cave Lions • Gray Fox • Glowworm • Little Brown Bat • Megabat • Ring-Tailed Lemur • Short-faced Bears • Toxodons • Titanis
Tall Grass
Cougar (Puma) • Clydesdale Horse • Coyote • Maned Wolf • Southern Ostrich • Yellow-Billed Cuckoo • White-Tailed Deer •
Mountain
Amazon River Dolphin • Australian Green Tree Frog • Andean Mountain Cat • Arabian Ostrich • Alpaca • Cougar (Puma) • Chinchilla • Condor • Coyote • Colorado Chipmunk • Gray-Bellied Mountain Rat • Golden Guernsey • Guanaco • Flamingo • Jaguar • Komodo Dragon • Llama • Mississippi Green Watersnake • Mountain Gorilla • Mountain Beaver • Prairie Falcon • Orinoco Crocodile • Turkey Vulture • Vicuña • Whistling Ducks • White-Tailed Deer • White-Tailed Eagle
River
Fiddler Crab • North American River Otter • Orinoco Crocodile • Platypus
Lake
Flamingo • Orinoco Crocodile • Seahorses •
Ocean
Amazonian Manatee • Blue Sea Star • Butterfly Ray • Bottlenose Dolphin • Blue-Ringed Octopus • Caribbean Reef Shark • Clownfish • Colossal Squid • Green Sea Turtle • Giant Pacific Octopuses • Great White Shark • Humpback Whale • Hawksbill Sea Turtle • Hammerhead Shark • Caribbean Hermit Crab • Lion's Mane Jellyfish • Leatherback Sea Turtle • Orca • Pygmy Seahorse • Squid • Sperm Whale • Shore Crabs • Seahorses • Starfish • Sea Otter • Sea Krait • Whale Shark
Polar regions
Adélie Penguin • Arctic Fox • Arctic Tern • Blue Whale • Beluga Whale • Chinstrap Penguin • Emperor Penguin • Eared Seal • Gentoo Penguin • Macaroni Penguin • Machairodus • Polar Bear • Laughing Gull • Reindeer • South Polar Skua • Snowy Owl • Walruses • Polar Bear •
Green Land
Puffin
Desert
Brontoscorpio Anglicus • Desert Kingsnake • Domestic Bactrian Camel • Camel • Fennec Fox • Giant Hairy Scorpion • Long-Eared Jerboa • Seagull • Sand Cat • Speckled Cape Tortoise •
Desert Cactus
Cape Porcupine • Coyote • Cougar (Puma) • Desert Iguana • Desert Cottontail • Gray Fox • Prairie Dog • Pampas Cat • Ring-Necked Pheasant • Roadrunner • White-Lipped Peccary •
Bottomland Hardwood
Goose • Red-Shouldered Hawk
African
African Elephant • African Bush Elephant • African Lion • African Cheetah • African Dwarf Frog • African Grey Hornbill • African Leopard • Aardvark • Aardwolf • African Helmeted Turtle • African Golden Wolf • African Wild Dog • African Wildcat • African Rock Python • American Cockroach • Ant • African Buffalo • African Clawless Otter • African Black Duck • African Hawk-Eagle • African Harrier-Hawk • Agama Agama (Agama Batu Kepala Merah) • African Spurred Tortoise • Arsinoitherium • Amebelodons • Black Rhinoceros • Botswanan Long-eared Bat • Banded Mongoose • Bohor Reedbuck • Black-backed Jackal • Black-Necked Spitting Cobra • Blue Wildebeest • Black-Tailed Prairie Dog • Common Warthog • Cattle Egret • Ostritch • Cape Bushbuck • Crested Porcupine • Common Chimpanzee • Chacma Baboon • Common Hippopotamus • Domestic Water Buffalo • Dragonfly • Egyptian Cobra • Ethiopian Wolf • Elk • Emperor Scorpion • Four-toed Hedgehog • Fire Skink • Greater Kudu • Gemsbok • Giant Eland • Grey Crowned Crane • Great Blue Turaco • Giant African Snail • Green Bee-Eater • Greater Flamingo • Grant's Zebra • Grey-Headed Bushshrike • Greylag Goose • Genet • Ground Pangolin • Gynanisa Maja • Glossina Morsitans Morsitans • Giant Teratorns • Honey Badger • Hippopotamus • Housefly • Hamerkop • Horned Gopher • Impala • Klipspringer • Kelenken • Ladybug • Lesser Egyptian Jerboa • Lygodactylus Williamsi • Meerkat • Mandrill • Morpho Butterfly • Martial Eagle • Macroeuphractus • Moeritheriums • Nile Crocodile • Nuttaliella • Oxpecker • Okapi • Olive Baboon • Plains Zebra • Pied Crow • Paraceratheriums • Quagga • Red-Crowned Crane • Ruppell's Vulture • Rock Hyrax • Rock Monitor Lizard • Reticulated Giraffe • Spotted Hyena • Sable Antelope • Senegal Bushbaby • Scrub Hare • Serval • Southern Red Bishop • Sclerophrys Regularis • Smith's Red Rock Hare • Scincus Scincus • Smilodon • Thomson's Gazelle • Tanzanian Red-Billed Hornbill • Trachylepis Striata • Trachylepis Sulcata • Trachylepis • Trachylepis Quinquetaeniata • Veiled Chameleon • Vervet Monkey • West African Giraffe • White-Backed Vulture • Wildebeest • Western Honey Bee • Western Yellow Wagtail • White-Necked Raven • White Rhinoceros • Yellow-Billed Stork • Yellow Baboon • Yellow Golden Mole • Zanzibar Red Colobus
African Rainforest
Okapi •
Island
Boobie Bird • Common Brown Lemur • Fossa • Giant Tortoise • Komodo Dragon • Mouse Lemur • Madagascan Flying Fox • Nile Crocodile • Phoenicopterus Flamingo • Ring-Tailed Lemur • Sifaka Lemur • Tomato Frog • Tenrecs
Snow Mountain
Giant Panda •
Bamboo Mountain
Giant Panda • Snow Leopard
Rocky Cave
North-Chinese Leopard
Forest
Dingo • Eastern Grey Kangaroo • Koala • Kookaburra • Megabat • Red Kangaroo • Short-Beaked Echidna