The phrase “burying your head in the sand”, is used frequently – even in the columns of this newspaper.  It is used when someone ignores obvious facts, or advice, while hoping that, given time, the problem at hand will simply go away.

This phrase originates from the commonly held belief that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid predators (“if they cannot see their predators, their predators cannot see them”).  This has resulted in ostriches gaining an unfair reputation for being dumb.

Many experts, however, claim this head burying business is just a myth, mostly attributable to the anatomy and behaviour of this animal.  The main factor being that if an ostrich buried its head in the ground it would soon die of asphyxiation (lack of oxygen).

Ostriches are the largest and heaviest living birds in the world.

Despite their size, these birds have relatively small heads. When nesting, they dig shallow holes in the ground to use as nests for their eggs. They use their beaks to turn their eggs several times each day. From a distance, an ostrich leaning into a hole to turn an egg could easily look like it is burying its head in the sand.

Moreover, ostriches eat plants on the ground.  So it is easy (especially from a distance) to think they are hiding their heads in the ground.

Also, ostriches often lie down flat on the ground when they feel threatened. From a distance, all that is visible is their large body, leading some people to think that the rest may be buried underneath the ground.