It’s been too long since I did anything remotely adventure-like, so I decided to revisit a nearby fun place. I went to OstrichLand USA in Buellton/Solvang, CA. I went there last year with my parents and got tons of photos of all the baby ostriches running around, so I was hoping for the same this year. Alas, no baby ostriches and I lost all of the images that I previously took due to a hard drive crash. *sad panda*
It was a cool-for-the-season July day at only 91 degrees, though in the direct sun it quickly started to feel a heck of a lot hotter than that! Fortunately, they are pretty much open from really early to dusk so if you wanted a cooler visit then I suggest either exreme of their lengthy hours but in the middle (when I went) will be much hotter.
Smile!
Not surprisely, considering the heat, most of the birds left their beaks open as a means of cooling down. Fortunately, they originate from the central band of Africa on the Savannah and so on that note are quite at home at Ostrich Land. I’m not sure which of the subspecies of ostrich are here, but based on a comparison of the pictures I took with the ones I found for the various types, it looks like these are the South African ostrich – based on the non-pink head and legs of the males. The South African ostrich is also known as the black-necked ostrich, while the North African variety is called the red-necked ostrich and the Masai ostrich is the pink-necked ostrich. Who knew there were so many varieties??
There’s a small basic entrance fee plus whatever feeding bins. That is only $1 for essentially a dog bowl bolted to a dust pan. And boy are you happy for that handle when you start to feed these guys!! They are some powerful birds! The first time I went the birds kept grabbing the edge of the bowl and trying to jerk it out of my hands. Based on the pan/bowl laying on the ground inside their pen, they still do this but fortunately for me didn’t try that trick when I fed them.
Besides that, when you try to hold the pan in the air and they are reaching in to snatch up what they can, their beaks are slamming into the base of that bowl so strongly I found it difficult to hold it up. The more birds are trying to feed at a time, the more obvious it is. Considering some of the white knuckle grips on other people, I was not the only one to notice how impressively strong these birds really are.
I did notice a few things. One: their eyes are MASSIVE in their heads. About the size of a pool ball, in fact (though of course, only a small percentage of that visible). While horses have the largest eyes of all land mammals, the ostrich eye is even larger than that. Two: their necks look and move like a snake, with tiny feathers (that look more like fur) instead of scales. It was really cool to see a group of these birds standing around with their snake-like necks weaving back and worth as they looked for the best opening to get at the food bins being held out for them.
Three: Ostriches have nictating membranes. I was not expecting to see that, but it makes sense. They are from an area with gusts of wind blowing around sandy particles, so this type of secondary eye lid helps protect the organ while still allowing for some sight. Perfect also for the area they are now in, which in the spring and fall gets pretty gusty and there’s definitely a great deal of sand, dirt and dust being blown around.
Four: Ostriches, like most birds, are sexually dimorphic – meaning that the males and females look different from each other. The males have black feathers with white tips of the wings and tails, while the females are browns or geys. I also noticed the males had orange beaks while the females had darker beaks. You can see a male and a female in this image above, even if you couldn’t see the body that those long necks were attached to.
Did you know ostrich can live as much as 45 years??
The feathers were rather interesting, though I dared not reach out to touch any of the birds – I like my fingers attached, thank you. They didn’t look like the feathers of other birds, most likely because they don’t serve the same purpose. These 300+ pound 6 foot + tall animals do not fly, so their feathers instead serve as insulation and sexual markers. I saw several males running around and one extended his wings. I was surprised to see that underneath his feather covered wings, not only does he have naked limbs but also his entire side and thigh are completely devoid of feathering.
If ever there was an animal that gives me a sense of “prehistoric”, it’s these guys. After seeing these giants up close, I have no problem at all imaging that these are the descendants of the dinosaurs – or that many dinosaurs had feathers. I picture those feathers being very much like the feathers of these flightless birds.
In addition to the ostriches, Ostrich Land is also home to some Emu – the second largest flightless bird in the world. While still tall, they guys came up to my chest and head rather than towered over me. The ostriches were fed from a rasied platform, while the emu could be feed from the ground through their enclosure.
What’s really cool is the call of the female emu. It’s really tough to describe, but the closest I heard was someone likening their sound to a bull frog. It was comprised short, punctuated, deep drum-like, voiceless bursts of sound — like the air was being manipulated within their throats to create the sound rather than a voice box creating the sounds through vibration. Not sure if this is accurate, but that’s what it sounded like. Very distinctive but not overly loud. It’s a sort of booming or drum beat sound being made by someone in the flock almost all the time.
Unlike the rounded beaks of the ostriches (which naturally eat seeds etc), the beak of the Emu was much sharper, includes a hook on the end, and even had tooth ridges rimming both upper and lower beak. They say these guys also eat seeds etc, but based on that beakage I’m thinking small lizards and insects were most definitely on the menu. Either that, or the plants they evolved to eat most effectively are very tough in some respect.
But other than feeding the birds and taking pictures, the only other thing to do really is tour the small gift shop. They do sell ostrich eggs, but really, what the heck am I going to do with a football sized empty egg? It’s not like it really matches my decor. heh. The only souvenir I really get from places are shot glasses – these are small and therefore pack and display easily, and they often have many varieties so I can pick based on aesthetic. Every shot glass I have has a story with it, even if it’s a mundane story. Back to the eggs … they had a nice corner display piece with a bunch of signed eggs from visiting movie and tv actors. I though the egg lamp-base was a perfect way to illuminate the many eggs they had on display here.
And with my tour of the gift shop done, that was it for me on this small jaunt. So until next time, adventure on!
– The Nerd Adventurer