5
NUTRITION
Ostriches (Struthio camelus), are omnivores and although they mostly eat plants (grass, fruit, seeds, shrubs, dry and hard foliage), they also eat some small animals like insects but also lizards, frogs and field mice.
This type of animal, does not need to drink much water as they can get it from metabolic reactions and moisture in the ingested plants they eat.
Ostriches are birds, so they do not have teeth but a beak, therefore they cannot grind food as mammals do. Instead they eat sand, pebbles, and rocks, to help breaking down the food
They can survive weighting up to a 24% less of their body through the losing of water.
When they eat, the food goes from the mouth to the esophagus, which is pouch-like and can store the food for some time. After that, it goes to the first part of the stomach and then to the gizzard which contains the pebbles and small rocks. Mechanical and chemical digestion takes place here. Then it goes to the small intestine where nutrients are absorbed and finally to the large intestine where the faeces are formed until they are expelled.