the Brandenburg ostrich - Landesamt für Umwelt, Gesundheit und ...

16 Habitat and BiologyEven though the young bustards are beginningto fly at four to five weeks, they still try to avoiddangers for many weeks by squatting down intothe ground vegetation – a fateful strategy! For thenthey can be caught up in and killed by the farmmachines that work the fields and grasslands.Only after 10 to 12 weeks do they try to flyaway – by that time having reached approximatelythe size of the hen. The male chicks quicklygrow larger than this, but even in the autumn themother – now much smaller than they – still feedssome of them.Females usually become sexually mature at theage of 2, whereas males become sexually maturebetween 4 and 5 years old.