Bible Trivia - 3/27/2008

Question: What species of bird does Job describe as stupid?

Answer: The ostrich. (Job 39:13-17)

Comments: Job here refers to the book and not the character as God is the figure speaking in Job 39. The book is drawing upon the general belief among the Arabs that the ostrich is a dense bird. They even have an expression - "stupid as an ostrich." Many believe that the utterance derived from the fallacy that ostriches stick their heads in the sand.

This is not true. The confusion comes from an ostrich’s defense mechanism. When an ostrich senses danger and cannot flee, it flops to the ground and becomes still in hopes of camouflaging itself by blending into the sand. From a distance, it does look like the ostrich has buried its head in the sand, because only the body is visible.

Even so, the ostrich is still not the sharpest knife in the animal kingdom's drawer. An ostrich brain is the size of its eye ball. Their small brains make for very simple birds. This is evidenced as the ostrich will swallow almost any substance.