Can Ostriches Fly?

The ostrich, a beautiful bird native to the savannah’s and grasslands of South Africa and also introduced to Australia is the world’s largest bird that is unable to fly. Their body mass is too large for their wingspan and cannot support their weight as well as their wing muscles and they have evolved in such a way that they no longer possess the innate knowledge of how to fly.

It is also said that birds such as the ostrich and the emu gave up on flight because they became fat and lazy when the dinosaurs died off. An abundance of food and a lack of predators following the dinosaur’s extinction resulted in a number of birds fattening up and made many of them simply stop taking flight altogether.

In height, ostriches can grow to measure 1.7-2.8 meters also known as 5.5-9.4 feet. They can weigh anywhere from 130-150 kilograms. Despite being flightless birds, they are equipped with small wings that are covered with fluffy feathers. These wings are much too small to lift the bird’s massive bodies off of the ground and into the air but are used as rudders when the bird is running to help it change its direction.

Since they are too fat and no longer capable of flying to flee from danger, the ostrich can often be seen using its posture to intimidate a rival or predator or when it feels threatened. When doing this it can be seen fluffing up its wings and hissing loudly. These birds are also designed to be very speedy. They outrun predators such as lions, hyenas and leopards all the time. They have also been known to vocalize a lot. One might even find them whistling, hissing, booming or snorting at a predator to scare it away.