Took this photo at the Sydney Taronga Zoo with my 300mm zoom lens. In the wild, ostriches sometimes gather in large groups of 100 or more, but most groups are smaller, usually about 10 birds, or just a male and female pair. The groups have a pecking order.

**Interesting Facts**
- The males can be as tall as 9 feet and weigh almost 300 lbs.
- Ostriches can sprint in short bursts up to 43 miles per hour (70 kilometers per hour), and they can maintain a steady speed of 31 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour).
- Just one of an ostrich’s strides can be 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) long—that’s longer than many rooms! When danger threatens, ostriches can escape pretty easily by running away. - They can also defend themselves: they have a 4-inch (10-centimeter) claw on each foot, and their kick is powerful enough to kill a lion. They actually kick forwards, not backwards.
- The male & female take turns hatching the eggs.
- Before hatching, the chicks make calls from inside the egg, which the parents answer.