Adorned with its black and white feathers, the male performs a spectacular courtship dance with wing beats, bows, circular movements of the neck accompanied by loud noises...

When populations are large, the male is polygamous, mating with several females. The first female to be seduced, the dominant one, participates in the selection of the others. All the females lay their eggs in a communal nest, but only the dominant female helps the male to incubate them. Using her beak, she places her eggs in the centre of the nest, where they will be best protected. When populations are smaller, the species tends to be monogamous.

The female incubates the eggs during the day, reducing the risk of predation by hyenas, jackals or vultures. Her light colouring serves as camouflage in daylight. The male, with his dark plumage, incubates at night.

The ostrich breaks many records in the animal world: it is the largest living bird, standing two metres tall and weighing over 100 kilograms. Its egg is the largest of all eggs: it can weigh over 1.5 kilograms. The ostrich is also the fastest land bird, with a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour!

Burying its head in the sand when danger threatens? This common misconception probably stems from its habit of lowering its head to ground level during sandstorms to protect itself, or to avoid being spotted by predators while incubating its eggs.

Since the end of the 19th century, ostriches have been farmed for their leather, ornamental feathers, eggs and meat, which is leaner and higher in protein than beef.

If an ostrich egg (1.5 kg) can hold around twenty chicken eggs, then 150 could fit into an æpyornis egg, weighing 10 kg. This Madagascan "elephant bird", extinct for at least five centuries, was the largest bird ever to have lived on Earth, weighing in at 400 kg.