Hi Birders:
My husband and I were talking about eating Ostrich the other day. We fondly
remembered eating Ostrich burgers in Canada and Montana. The ostrich was
mixed w/ beef, and the burgers were delicious. When I was up at the meat
market buying turkey the other day, I asked the butcher lady about ostrich.
She says you cannot purchase ostrich at markets in King County, because it
is not USDA approved. I also asked her about their drumsticks (if you can
imagine). She said that people only eat the breast meat, and that she
thought the drumsticks would be too small?
So I read a little bit about Masai Ostrich. It almost went extinct and now
survives in game reserves in East Africa, in zoos, and in captivity, where
they are raised for feathers and meat. The male grows as tall as 9 feet,
and he is polygamous w/ a harem of 3 or 4 hens. Both male and females are
good parents, brooding eggs and rearing the young. The eggs weigh over 2
1/2 pounds. The birds are
omniverous, eating grass, shrubs, insects, and small reptiles. And nowdays
they eat ostrich feed. They make a loud sound like a lion's. They are the
only species of the Struthionidae Family. I never did find out about their
drumsticks.
On a holiday note: I guess we should all be heading to Stanwood to chase
the Tropical Kingbird, because it's 4-letter bird-banding code is TRKI. We
should go tomorrow!
Also, to make the vegeterians among us happy, you can purchase Tofurkey at
the store. I understand it is pretty good.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at att.net