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An Amazing Fact:
Ostriches once flourished throughout Africa; the majority now live in
protected reserves on the continent’s east coast. Male African ostriches
grow as high as nine feet tall and can weigh a hefty 345 pounds—making
them the tallest and heaviest of all living birds.
Ostriches live in family groups consisting of one male and several hens. During breeding season, each hen lays between two and 11 creamy white eggs in a communal nest, which is a hollowed-out crater in the ground about 10 feet across. Eventually, these nests can contain up to 50 eggs each, but only about 20 can be successfully incubated. The eggs of the ostrich are the largest of any bird, measuring from six to eight inches long and weighing between two and four pounds. (The record is over five pounds!) An ostrich egg has the volume of about 24 chicken eggs, and though the shell is only 1.5 millimeters thick, it can hold the weight of a grown man.
They are not the smartest birds, yet the notion that they bury their heads in the sand is actually a myth. Sadly, these tallest, fastest, and biggest of birds also cannot fly, so they are easily farmed throughout the world for meat, feathers, and leather.
God teaches Job that He is Creator over all things, including the ostrich. The description given is all too accurate: “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?” (Job 39:13). God decided that the ostrich would not fly and would lay her eggs on the ground. He also decided just how smart to make this bird: “Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding” (v. 17).
Interestingly, the Bible also teaches us that the greatest of the angels had his wings clipped because his eyes were too big. So let’s be sure to remain humble with all the talents that God has given us.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Ezekiel 28:2
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