Oddly enough, the habits of the popular ostrich are not well-known. Ostriches' diet consists mainly of plants, including roots, and a lot of seeds. They will also eat insects such as grasshoppers and crickets. Like many birds, they swallow stones to help brak up food in their gizzards. At mating time, the males fight for the females.
Fighting is usually an aggressive show with the males pecking, kicking, and hissing.
The huge eggs weigh more than 3 pounds each and can resist the weight of the 240-pound male ostrich, who sits on them most of the time. Hunted for its beautiful feathers. The ostrich almost totally disappeared. One type, the Arabian ostrich, became extinct. Strict rules were necessary to save the African ostriches from extinction.