The Ostrich or Common Ostrich, (Struthio camelus).
I for a short time of my life raised Ostrich for a mining company, this was on a small scale only four breeding females and two males, but it is a time of my life I will always remember. They are the strangest of birds, temperamental and cantankerous when it comes to breeding time, but a bird that can really entertain you. I lost all my photos from those days in a flood 12 years ago, when my house was under water, but I managed to capture a male doing the dance of love as I like to call it. Not the best of photos but they should give one an idea of the beauty of the dance..
The male will crouch and sway his head from side to side, extend his wings and show off his beauty… following which he will chase after the female with his wings held high… she normally just ignores him until she is ripe for the taking… then like all birds he will do the deed and start his dance again… horny guy that he is…
With their acute eyesight and hearing, Ostriches can sense predators such as lion from far away. When being pursued by a predator, they have been known to reach speeds in excess of 70 km/h (43 mph), and can maintain a steady speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), which makes the Ostrich the world’s fastest two-legged animal. When lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear as a mound of earth from a distance.
When threatened, Ostriches run away, but they can cause serious injury and death with kicks from their powerful legs. Their legs can only kick forward. So when ever they attacked me and I was on foot, I merely lay on the ground, they raise their chests to kick and could never quite reach me.. still scary though..
Here is what the dance looks like…and you can see her in the back ground just ignoring him…
Notice how she just continues to ignore him and continues eating… typical female makes him work hard…
And then for the show of his size and stature… the wings up position…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
How exciting and beautiful… Great shots dear Rob, Thank you, love, nia
Thanks Nia, it is a really fascinating thing to watch…
Fab captures, and very interesting information. 🙂
I wish I had my old photos they were just so much better.. but got the capture and wanted to share it…
I can’t imagine being chased by an Ostrich. Must be quite and adrenaline raiser. Wonderful photos. I particularly like the last shot.
It became a second nature. when one could read their intentions, they were going to charge me, I simply lay down on the ground and they would pound around about me but never connecting… when they raise their chests to kick the head is erect and I think they have trouble seeing you… but most of the time I was armed with my hook and merely caught the neck and lowered the head then they can’t kick… but they are a treat to work with and I have started another blog where I can share a few articles about my experiences… when up and running I will share..
Naughty title there! You have lived a very interesting and daring life. Cool captures there.
Had to make it a eye catcher, couldn’t think of any other word… sorry hope it was not offensive…
It wasn’t but it would’ve been perfect had it been attached to some photos of rhinos 🙂
I’ll remember that when I post photos of Rhino again..
Bwahaha 😛 Lovely photos. I like them a lot, even tho I got bitten by one when I was a child..damn, that still hurts 😉
When raising their young I lost a pair of sunglasses taken off my face and swallowed, pens, ID cards I even nearly lost a cell phone.. I raised over a thousand young for the mining company and can tell stories of these birds that would take a week to relate them all..
I would like to hear some of them 😀
And so you shall… I’m starting a blog for my articles… and will be posting soon… they will be about my trips to the game parks and such things as raising Ostrich
Yay 🙂
Wow very cool indeed. That must have been quite an experience being around birds that large!!! Great shots of the love dance!
Thank you.. it was a great experience…
Thanks for capturing one of the many dances in nature!
Thank you Sir…
Beautiful! How can she be so heartless as to ignore such a magnificent display of affection? 😉
I wish I had my old photos taken from the front,,, it is a magnificent dance and this I caught so quickly yesterday from the rear…