HenriettaThe Ostrich    

When I first saw her, I was certain she must have been a legendary dancer or singer.  No longer young, but still dazzling, graceful, confident, and

HenriettaWe Recommend this print with a narrow white mat, and a simple black frame to accent the black and white detail in the feathers For a custom size or frame, give us a call 970-729-1026
 

accustomed to the limelight. Her ostrich feather tutu moved, floated, and bounced as she strolled toward me with powerful legs.  Then she stops at just the right distance to be admired by her fans and to display her beauty.  As she bats long rich black eyelashes and closes her enormous eyes, she crosses her legs at the ankles in an elegant ballerina pose, bends over, dips her long and graceful neck, and pauses for exactly the right amount of time to receive her applause. Part of a practiced routine, no doubt. Once the photographs are done, she begins preening what is left of her aging costume, ignoring me as though I was never there.

The common ostrich is a commanding sight.  At nearly nine feet tall and 350 pounds, they can live up to forty years in the wild, and seventy in the care of zookeepers.  The largest and heaviest bird on earth, and fastest of all two-legged animals can hold a speed of thirty mph for forty miles.  Her foot, constructed of a powerful hardened hoof can disembowel would-be predators.   However, they aren’t the smartest birds since their brains are smaller than their eyes.  And they think if they can’t see you, you can’t see them.  Henrietta and some of her other girlfriends live among the giraffes at The Houston Zoo just like in the wild on the hot plains of Sub-Saharan Africa.  Their eggs remain unfertilized at the zoo and since they lay the largest eggs on earth, keepers use them as treats for the other zoo residents. 

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Brenda Colwell, Fine Art Nature Photographer

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 970-729-1026 

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