When do ostriches mate

The male ostrich has black feathers and the female has grey feathers. This is for camouflage. The female will sit on the eggs during the day and the male will sit on the eggs during the night. With her grey feathers and his black feathers predators can not see that it is ostriches sitting on eggs. The incubation period is 42 days before the chicks hatch out.

Considering the size of their eggs which weigh about 1,5kg each, and also considering that a chicken egg takes 21 days to hatch, it is actually very quick. We have our breeding birds in huge camps where they can mate and lay their eggs with as little disturbance as possible.

Berlin Abh. Gerhardt, U. Download references. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Reprints and Permissions. Marcus, A. Ostrich penis clears up evolutionary mystery. Nature Download citation. Published : 08 December Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.

Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. Download PDF. Subjects Evolution. Overlooked bird organ is similar to, but separate from, that of reptiles and mammals.

The ostrich is one of very few birds to have a penis. At night, the male will incubate the eggs by laying on them. Likewise, during the day, the females light brown feathers blend in with the soil. The eggs have a white shiny external and an enamel that is perfect thickness for incubation and protection.

Research is being done on the incubation process with the egg so that humans can use them for consumption , since they are so unique and large. The eggs will take around 40 days to hatch.

Once hatched, the chicks are well protected. They have their parents as body guards, as well as other members of the flock. They will follow the parent around as shown in the above picture similar to other types of birds. After the chicks have reached several months maturity, their survival rate greatly increases. Do to how the ostrich interacts with other animals, they were becoming scarce do to excessive hunting.

But the numbers of ostrich are slowing starting to rise in nature, and there are lots in captivity. To learn more about ostrich reproduction, take a gander at the Animal Diversity Website.