Ostrich

The ostrich is the largest living bird in the world — a flightless, long-legged runner built for speed across open grassland rather than flight through the air.

The ostrich cannot fly, but everything about its build is suited to life on the ground: long, muscular legs, a long neck for spotting danger across open country, and a body that can tower well over the height of an adult person. Each foot has only two toes, an unusual trait among birds that helps the ostrich run efficiently at high speed.

Ostriches are omnivores, and in the wild they eat mostly plants, seeds, and roots, along with the occasional insect or small reptile. Like many ground birds, ostriches also swallow small stones, which sit in the gizzard and help grind up tough plant food since the bird has no teeth.

Ostriches often live in loose groups and are known for a distinctive nesting habit: several females may lay their eggs in a single shared nest scraped into the ground, with one dominant pair, a male and his primary female, taking on most of the incubating.