Why does an ostrich hide its head in the sand? Is it really?

The largest bird on our planet is an ostrich, which lives mainly in hot countries. There are a lot of different jokes about its some features. So, even children know that this huge bird with naive eyes at the sight of danger immediately bury its head in the sand. This is a cartoon film, an anecdote, but is it really so?

Indeed, why does the ostrich hide its head in the sand, if this way you can not hide from the danger, but just suffocate? Are these birds so stupid? In fact, they are very intelligent and used, like all reasonable representatives of the animal world, to flee from the pursuer. They can easily run a huge distance with a speed of about 75 km / h, and with the danger threatening they are dispersed to 97 km / h.

The fiction that ostriches hide their heads in the sand, came to us since the days of Ancient Rome. When the conquerors conquered foreign lands, they brought home countless truthful and not very stories about the distant lands and animals that inhabited them. It so happened that ostriches like flat space. Since only grass grows on the plains, they have to constantly bend over the food. When the observer sees that the bird holds its head in the grass for a long time, it may seem that she buried it there.

The growth of the ostrich reaches 2.3 m, the weight is 150 kg, it has two-toed strong and long legs, so it does not need to stand waiting for the predator to attack. It may seem that the ostrich hides its head in the sand, although it only pretends. The bird lies on the sand and, putting his neck and head on it, from afar resembles a strange stack. But if the predator failed to deceive, then it includes speed and rushes on all pairs, fleeing. If there is no place to go, the ostrich defends itself and struggles for its life with all its might. The punch of his paw is so powerful that when hit in the head can easily kill a person.

The question of why an ostrich hides its head in the sand could also have arisen because it very often leans toward the sand to eat it and pick up pebbles that are necessary for the speedy digestion of food. In the stomach of an adult there is up to a kilogram of stones. Questions about why an ostrich is hiding its head in the sand may be related to the fact that the bird really likes to ride on the hot sand, dropping its head in order to get rid of the bored parasites living in feathers and on the skin.

Ostrich is very timid, because of this, maybe, and there was a story about his peculiar hide-and-seek. In addition, he often tilts his head to the ground to listen, if he is in danger. These birds live in groups, they sleep in turns. While some individuals are resting, others walk and keep an eye on whether the predator is approaching them. Because of the high growth and excellent vision, they see the danger from afar, which is reported to their congeners. For this reason, many animals prefer to graze near them.

Many people are wondering why an ostrich hides its head in the sand, not realizing that this is just a fiction, a fiction, invented by the ancient Romans. Until now, many myths have come down, fictitious or unverified facts, which we believe in piously. Although thanks to the ostriches, the expression "bury your head in the sand" appeared, that is, to be afraid of difficulties and to avoid solving problems, but this is just what the proud birds do not do.