• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of

This week, facts about ostriches. September is National Ostrich Month, a time to celebrate the biggest bird on earth, whose egg is as large as 24 chicken eggs.

Transcript

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood

(Music up and under)

CURWOOD: What has legs, not a beast nor feathers for flight, but a head when alarmed to be buried from sight? That riddle, of course, is about nature's own riddle, the improbable ostrich. September is National Ostrich Month, and this bird, which is native to South Africa, has inspired tales as tall as its own gangly frame. Carl Linnaeus, who devised the most popular system for naming plants and animals, dubbed the ostrich Struthio camelus . That's Latin for "sparrow camel," which pretty aptly describes this, um, bird. It has a small beak and curious, large eyes. The wings poking from its humped body are useless for flight. Ostriches are the largest birds in the world, but they have a brain smaller than those eyeballs. They can grow up to eight feet tall, and they have a surprisingly persistent manner. By the way, ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand, but they do duck way down when confronted with danger, and stretch their necks out along the ground to avoid being seen. Ostriches, though, don't have much to fear. Those seemingly spindly legs? They can let loose a kick that can kill all but the toughest predator. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

Creating positive outcomes for future generations.

Innovating to make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. Listen to the race to 9 billion

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth