Ostrich

The ostrich is the largest living bird. It cannot fly, but it can run at around seventy kilometres an hour, faster than any other bird on land. Each of its eyes is about five centimetres across and is bigger than its brain.^[1] The ostrich therefore sees a great deal more than it can think about, a condition shared with most people at airports.

The head in the sand

Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. The idea probably comes from the way they lower their heads to the ground to turn their eggs in the nest, which is a shallow hole dug in the ground, or lie low with their necks flat when hiding. From a distance this looks like a bird with no head, which is a different problem entirely.^[2]

No ostrich has ever been recorded with its head in the sand. Ornithologists have been checking since the first century and say it is the most thoroughly investigated thing that does not happen.

Eggs

Ostriches lay the largest eggs of any living bird, each weighing about as much as two dozen hen's eggs. An ostrich egg takes about an hour to boil, by which time whoever was hungry has generally had something else.

See also

• Sand – where its head is not
• Giraffe – another tall animal
• Hour – how long its egg takes to boil
• Chicken – a smaller bird that also does not fly far

References

1. Strider, S. (1999). Big Eyes, Small Thoughts. Savannah Press.
2. Dune, D. (2005). “We Checked the Sand”. Journal of Things That Don't Happen 0: 1.
3. Shell, O. (2012). One Egg, Many People. Breakfast Books.