Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when frightened
The old claim turned out to be wrong and was rejected by evidence.
TaughtA frightened ostrich sticks its head in the sand, believing that if it cannot see the predator, the predator cannot see it.
NowNo ostrich has ever done this. They would suffocate. The impression comes from ostriches lowering their heads to the ground, either to turn their eggs in a ground nest or to lie flat when hiding.
What actually happened
The claim goes back to Pliny the Elder in the first century, which should be a warning sign on its own. It survives because two real behaviors look like it from a distance.
Ostriches dig shallow pit nests and periodically stick their heads down into them to rotate the eggs, which from far away resembles a head disappearing into the ground. And when threatened, an ostrich will sometimes drop flat with its neck stretched along the sand, a camouflage posture that makes its head and neck blend into the terrain. What an ostrich actually does when seriously threatened is more sensible: it runs at up to 70 km/h, or it kicks, with a downward blow strong enough to kill a lion.
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Do ostriches really bury their heads in the sand?britannica.com
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Ostrichanimals.sandiegozoo.org
Who was taught this
Still standard through 2005, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 1990 learned the earlier version.