Down to Earth The Mystery of Flightless Birds | Wildlife Documentary

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They’ve given up the wonderful art of flying. Or was it an art they never possessed? The brain structure and anatomy of flightless birds indicate that they descended from "flyers" so, why don’t they fly? Often weighing around 200 kg, over 2 meters tall and capable of reaching speeds of
70 km/h, these runners have secrets!

The largest bird in the world lives in Africa: the ostrich. Its slightly smaller colleague, the emu, conquered Australia. Hanging out with him down under is the dazzling cassowary. The rhea of South America comes in third in terms of size. New Zealand’s takahe, kiwi and kakapo are the smallest among the flightless. There are about 40 nonflyers around the world, including some swimmers, like the penguin.

That the birds in New Zealand forgot how to fly is perfectly understandable: for millions of years there were no enemies on the ground. There were no mammals – just birds. Colonizers brought predators into the country that made life for the nonflyers very difficult.

But why did the ostrich opt for a life on the ground? In its African habitat, there certainly were more than enough large predators. There are definitely things about ostriches that are still a mystery today.

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