Page 46 - World of Animals - Issue #39

All about the common ostrich

Dating and mating

With communal nests and complex mating rituals, ostriches have a very unique style of breeding

Ostriches usually live in groups of around The males – also known as cocks or Communal nests are around three
ten individuals, but sometimes flocks can roosters – flap their wings in alternating metres (ten feet) wide and can contain

include up to 100 birds. There is a loose wing beats, showing off their plumage until up to 60 eggs, although when it comes
hierarchy; a dominant male and female a female shows interest. Once paired, they to incubation, the dominant female will
head the group, which is made up of retire to a mating area, where they graze sometimes remove the eggs of weaker

several other, less important, females. together in synchrony. After eating, the females to ensure only the fittest genes
Young, lone males also come and go, male pokes at the ground with its beak are passed on to the next generation.

joining the group during mating season and flaps its wings once more to clear Although there are numerous eggs, each

and moving between flocks. the area of dirt and create a nest. The female ostrich is able to recognise her own.
The female at the top of the hierarchy is female starts to run in circles around the During the day, the dominant female
the only one the dominant male will mate male, whose head winds in a spiral motion, will sit on and incubate all remaining eggs
with. As for the other males in the herd, before the female drops to the ground and in the nest. Its light coloured feathers act

they will have to catch a lower ranking copulation begins. as camouflage to help it stay safe. When
female’s attention through a dancing ritual. When it comes to laying eggs, there is night falls, the dominant male’s shift
It’s easy to see when an ostrich is ready one communal nest for the herd, called a begins. With its black feathers, the male is BELOW
to mate. Their beak, neck and legs turn dump nest. The dominant female places able to incubate the flock’s eggs without The common

bright red in colour and the females’ hers in the centre, where they will be being spotted by predators. This is vital as, ostrich’s neck
feathers change entirely, becoming silvery safest, and the other females have to place despite their large size, they are vulnerable changes colour
when it is ready
in the sunlight. theirs around the edge. to attack from behind when sitting. to mate
“The female starts to run in circles around

the male, whose head winds in a spiral
motion, before the female drops to the

ground and copulation begins”

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