Ostrich (1/9)

STRUTHIONIFORMES: Struthionidae

Struthio camelus  

Between Barham and Caldwell, NSW, there exists a feral population of Ostriches which has apparently roamed free and increased in numbers since being released in the area from a failed Ostrich farm in the 1990's.

A slow drive along two kilometres of the Moama-Barham Road 13-15 kilometres west of the railway line at Caldwell was sufficient to locate two females and one male.

The Ostriches were quite a distance from the road so it was necessary to stop and examine anything that looked like a bush with binoculars to find them, but each time we did so, the bush was an Ostrich.

This photo is of a female.

Identification tip: Ostriches can easily be distinguished from all other Australian birds, including Emus and Weebills, in that they have only two toes on each foot.