OSTRICH, MALE 32''

3268, OSTRICH, MALE 32'' by Hansa Creations is anatomically scaled to create the best reproduction of the life size stuffed animal and the most realistic stuffed animal in the industry.

Fun Facts for Kids

• The ostrich is unique amongst birds in having two toes on each of its feet. All other birds possess three or four toes.
• "Strothio camelus", the ostrich’s scientific name, means camel-like.
• The feathers of the ostrich are unusual because they don’t have the usual tiny hooks that keep the feather together, leaving the barbs or ‘branches’ loose, and giving the feathers a very soft, smooth feel.
• Males change color during the breeding season, their skin turning bright red, signaling to the hens that they are ready to mate.
• One ostrich egg weighs as much as 24 or so chicken eggs.
• Ostriches peck curiously at small, shiny objects, being attracted to them.
• In Nairobi National Park, one communal ostrich nest had 78 eggs from different females.
• Lacking teeth, ostriches ingest pebbles in order to grind their food, with an adult ostrich carrying in its stomach about 1 kg of stones.
• Contrary to popular belief, ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger. This may have been a misunderstanding of their sticking their heads in the sand to swallow sand and pebbles to help digest their fibrous food, or, as National Geographic suggests, of the defensive behavior of lying low, so that they may appear from a distance to have their head buried. Another possible origin for the myth lies with the fact that ostriches keep their eggs in holes in the sand instead of nests, and must rotate them using their beaks during incubation; digging the hole, placing the eggs, and rotating them might each be mistaken for an attempt to bury their heads in the sand.

The Common ostrich (Struthio camelus), or simply ostrich, is a species of flightless bird native to certain large areas of Africa and is the largest living bird species.  The ostrich is distinctive in its appearance and can run for a long time at a speed of 55 km/h (34 mph) with short bursts up to about 70 km/h (40 mph), the fastest land speed of any bird. It is the largest living species of bird and the largest living dinosaur. It lays the largest eggs of any living bird.