Flightless Saturday 01-30-16

Copyright 2015  AJ Horton

Hello and happy Saturday.  Yesterday, I had a problem flying my drone.  Actually, I guess it wasn't so much about the flying so much as my not having control so the drone flew into a tree!  And, yes, it was about the flying, too.  Well, today I want to talk about not flying.  So I came upon a photograph of  the Ostrich that I saw at the Asheboro Zoo in Asheboro, North Carolina.  The ostrich is a big "bird", it has feathers, but it doesn't fly.  Why, I think, does the ostrich have feathers when it doesn't or can't fly?

I went to the Internet and found that studies have shown feathers actually evolved on animals before even birds flew.  Apparently feathers are useful for insulation, camouflage, courtship and as a water repellent.  Also, in the case of the ostrich, feathers are also used as stabilization when running.  It seems that ostriches can run very fast, about 43 miles an hour when sprinting and about 30 miles per hour for a sustained period and the feathers help with stability and balance.  After all, who would want to fall while running 30 - 40 miles an hour?

Plus, the ostrich is the largest bird, usually weighing between 130-145 pounds, but can weigh up to 350 pounds.   They also live a long time - up to 75 years!  They may not be able to fly but they will fight by kicking and not even a lion will mess with a healthy, mature ostrich.   Ostriches grow to about 8 or 9 feet tall.  All the websites I researched said that ostriches do NOT put their heads in the sand!  Ostriches are very interesting, flightless, birds.  Ostriches are also very funny looking - personal observation.

I hope you had a sensationally flightless Saturday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.

P.S.  I used the websites http://www.ostrichlandusa.com/ostrich-fun-facts/,  and http://www.livescience.com/6657-ostrich-wings-explain-mystery-flightless-dinosaurs.html for today's info.