Greg Pingo: “Pete, do you think that’s an ostrich over there?”
Pete: “No that’s a stump in the grass…”
The long neck and head of a male ostrich. Easily mistaken as a stump amongst long grass…
Needless to say, the stump swivelled at the top end, also known as its head. It was a male ostrich lying down. This view was from about 800m away, so we ventured in closer to confirm.
Upon arrival at the scene, we were still unsure as to whether the male ostrich was merely having an afternoon rest, or whether there was a clutch of eggs underneath his plumage. The large circle of flattened grass, a clear entrance pathway to the area and his unwillingness to stand up all suggested that the ostrich was sitting on eggs.
The male ostrich sitting in a small open patch amongst the long grass. One can see how the grass has been flattened and some of the soil dug away. This basic nesting site is referred to as a scrape.
Delight! We managed to spot the white edge of one egg popping out from under his left wing.
Look very carefully and you’ll notice a small white patch sticking out under the ostrich’s left side-body. That tiny view of an egg was confirmation that he is in fact incubating eggs.
A closer view of the one egg that we did manage to see. The rough texture typical of an ostrich egg can just be seen here.
For those new to the Ostrich story of Londolozi, a single female surprised everyone in late 2013, appearing out of nowhere. Miraculously, she found a mate a whole three years later! The family grew, and another group of ostriches appeared on the scene, adding more excitement. In late winter 2019, 23 hatchlings were found wandering around with a group of adults. This was a heart-warming sight and a real miracle seeing as only three years earlier, the ostrich population consisted of one lone female. Unfortunately however, after a few weeks the numbers dwindled and the chicks were never seen again.
The 2019 clutch of 23 chicks guarded by a flock of adults. One can see how their appearance (other than size of course) is vastly different to the adults – an adaption to help them blend in with the grass and sand around them.
With a survival rate of 12-15% amongst the chicks, this is not surprising. Interestingly, more than one female will lay in one nest. The first female to lay is termed the major female and any others that lay thereafter are minor females. The major female is said to be able to recognise her own eggs and will push minor females’ eggs to the nest perimeter so as to favour incubation of her own. The major female and the territorial male will take turns incubating the eggs for a period of about five to eight weeks.
We have no idea how long ago the current eggs were laid, but will be sure to keep a close eye on the developments at the nest.
The 2019 nest was discovered when Alex Jordan and Lucky Shabangu noticed a herd of buffalo all congregating and staring at something. They were astounded when they saw a female ostrich guarding eggs in a nest. Shortly after this, the female burst up in a threat display, chasing the buffalo away from the delicate eggs.
The first clutch in 2016 had six chicks, in 2019 it was 23. How many chicks will there be this year?
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Fantastic news. Interesting information Pete.
Such exciting news! Hopefully the 2020 chicks fare better than last years. 🤞🏼
Fingers crossed for the safe hatching of the chicks! Great photos!😄
Pete, just curious, How would the Ostrich better protect their babies in the future. In your experience do they learn from the loss or will they keep repeating the same patterns each time
Hi Andrew and Daniel,
I’m afraid my ostrich experience is too limited to answer this accurately. I can say though, that as smaller birds have been shown to learn through experiences (particularly surrounding experiments involving food that is tasty and food that is distasteful) I am almost certain that Ostriches would pick up small bits of useful experience. Maybe recognising threats earlier and chasing them away from a nest? We’ll have to see…
fingers crossed
Fantastic news! Prayers for the chicks’ survival!
Pete, loved all the photos, especially the one with ostrich sitting on the nest🤗
Thanks Joan!
Really interesting Pete! I always felt so sorry for the first poor female Ostrich. She looked so lonely to me in pics and kept coming up to the people in the Landrovers for company! May this year’s babies grow up into Adults and be safe from the many predators there are on Londolozi! Wendy M
A great story, the story of your ostriches. I hope they will be successful again this year.
What an amazing photo of the ostrich and water buffaloes. Truly a priceless shot! Hoping to see some hatching’s
Good news for the ostrich community! I remember the lone female well – so glad the “family” continues to grow!
Great news! This time let’s hope at least 50%of the chicks survive!
That is amazing news! I love the shot of the Buffalo staring at the Ostrich and that it was cheeky enough to chase them away!
Wow that’s so exciting!! I can’t wait to hear what happens! Fingers crossed these babies will make it, and will boost the ostrich population!
Incredible news!!
Hi Pete I love ostrich they look so funny but are fierce and powerful birds indeed. What a bad luck with chicks in spite of their parents efforts… I wish them well and keep my fingers crossed for the chicks to come!
Hope a lot of them will survive! we have not seen the ostriches on our last 2 visits to Londolozi, so am glad they are still there. Victoria
Any way of knowing if the original female ostrich is still around Pete?
When the sub-adults were not fully mature it was a lot easier to tell! We think she is, based on the number of ostriches that we see.
Great news Pete! We will keep our fingers crossed for another set of those cute little hatchlings!
I love the photo of the herd of buffalo staring at the ostrich …. brave bird.
Let’s hope the ostrich chicks survive to adulthood this year…very difficult for them with so many predators in the area..lovely sighting….an amazing bird!…..thanks James…. I’m hoping for a positive outcome…..
That was an amazing find Pete. Funny how they just appeared out of nowhere, but seems they have decided to linger at Londolozi. I would imagine that the chicks are easy prey, which is sad really. At least some have survived if the numbers of ostrich have increased. Thanks for sharing with us. Be well and safe all of you.
Super news Pete! Let’s hope you have a hand full of ‘stumps’ very soon 😊💕🙏
Ostrich breeding behaviour was heartwarming and very enlightening.Incubation duties being shared too was a joy to see.Powerful images
l think young ostrich mortality to a large extent hinges on exposure and vulnerability to predation.since they seemingly have a very low survival rate maybe that explains the huge cluster of eggs exhibited.Secondly do they have slow growth can this perhaps inhibit their success