How The Major Hen Protects Her Own

The ostrich is not only Africa’s, but the world’s largest living bird. Being unable to fly it is therefore forced to make its nest in a scrape on the ground. Ostrich eggs weigh about 1.5 kgs each and makes a meal  not to be despised by even such large predators like the jackals, hyenas and lions too. Major hazards to survival call for special measures to combat them. Therefore, the ostrich has evolved a highly unusual pattern of breeding and incubating.
Usually, a male ostrich forms a pair bond with only one bird,’the major hen’, although he will mate with as many females as he can. The secondary females are allowed to lay eggs into the nest, but take no part in incubating them.This task the male shares with the major hen. During the night, the male sits on the eggs since the danger is greater while the female does so during the day.

It is rare for an animal to look after the offspring of others since helping them will be some kind of competition for food by decreasing it and other resources available.And the major hen is no more unselfish than any other female bird.
Occassionally the nest will get full and the major hen can no longer effectively incubate all the eggs. She pushes some that do not belong to her thus making a circle of discarded eggs round the nest.

Since these eggs are lying neglected in the sun,they will never hatch and are the first eggs that a predator will find and may well be sufficient to satisfy its hunger.They will at any rate divert atttention from the major hen’s eggs, which remain in relative security beneath the parent in the centre of the nest.