{"id":39028,"date":"2024-06-14T12:25:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T10:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/01ced3e5-5720-4e85-8d04-39ed61555bbd"},"modified":"2024-06-14T12:27:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T10:27:30","slug":"do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand\/","title":{"rendered":"Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do we say ostriches bury their heads in the sand – and do they really bury their heads? Stuart Blackman looks at the evidence and how this saying originated <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Friday, 14 June 2024 at 10:25 AM<\/p>

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From goldfish having a three-second memory to snakes being charmed by music, there are many misconceptions about animal behaviour. This myth about ostriches is one of them.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand?<\/h2>
Thanks to their keen eyesight, ostriches (the world’s biggest bird<\/a>) often spot a predator<\/a>, such as a cheetah<\/a> or lion<\/a>, before it sees them. In response, the birds may flatten themselves to the ground to appear like a large (if feathered) rock or mound. They don\u2019t stick their heads into the ground, though.\u00a0<\/p>
Why do ostriches have two kneecaps?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
If they are spotted, flightless<\/a> ostriches have a much better way of escaping danger: running very fast in the opposite direction. These birds make up for their lack of airborne ability with super speed \u2013 they are the world\u2019s fastest two-legged animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70kph.\u00a0<\/p>
Flightless birds: how did some birds lose their ability to fly?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
The Emu War of 1932: how these flightless birds defeated the Australian military<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
The head-burying myth may have stemmed from the fact that the ostrich digs into sand to create a nest. As large flightless birds, ostriches cannot nest <\/a>in trees, so the male scrapes out a hollow in the ground with his beak. This could look like he is burying his head in the sand.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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Why do we say ostriches bury their heads in the sand – and do they really bury their heads? Stuart Blackman looks at the evidence and how this saying originated <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39029,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-scaled.jpg",2560,1704,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-1536x1022.jpg",1536,1022,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/do-ostriches-really-bury-their-heads-in-the-sand-2048x1363.jpg",2048,1363,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Why do we say ostriches bury their heads in the sand - and do they really bury their heads? Stuart Blackman looks at the evidence and how this saying originated","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}