History Main / OstrichHeadHiding

In reality, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology ostriches don't put their head underneath the sand]]. Such a scenario would leave them sitting duck for predators not to mention risking suffocation. Just like any other animal, they will run away whenever they assume danger. Logical too, seeing that they have long, strong legs that can run over 40 miles per hour, making it extremely difficult for predators to catch them (and if they are caught those same legs can deliver deadly kicks). When they sleep they just sit down on the ground like other birds do. The ''head burying in the sand'' image is likely a perception derived from humans watching the birds from a distance and seeing them reach their long necks down to the ground to search for food or to manage their nests.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}''. During the ''Baby Be Mine'' segment the camera shows a shot of the circus animals taking a rest at night, including a mother (or [[AnimalGenderBender father?]]) ostrich and her two baby birds, sticking their heads underneath the sand.

* ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}''. [[AmnesiacHero Bumblebee]] does this on the beach, thinking it would hide him if other peoeple are around. Yes, he honestly forgot to ''[[ForgotAboutHisPowers transform into vehicle mode]]''.

* Wiki/RationalWiki's [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Category:Denialism articles on denialism]] are adorned with a logo of an ostrich hiding its head.

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs'', a mother ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Gastornis]]'' hides her head in the ground as she gets startled by a ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex''. Her chick attempts to do the same, but the ground is too hard, so the chick knocks itself out.

* ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}''. Bumblebee does this on the beach, thinking it would hide him if other peoeple are around. Yes, he honestly forgot to ''[[ForgotAboutHisPowers transform into vehicle mode]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'': {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. In "Bunga The Wise," Bunga tells an ostrich who's scared of hyenas to hide her head in the ground to avoid seeing them. When the rest of the Lion Guard see her doing this, they point out that ostriches don't actually do such a thing. After they help the ostrich to pull her stuck head out, she complains about [[RealityEnsues how hard it is to breathe down there]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs'', a mother ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Gastornis]]'' hides her head in the ground as she gets startled by a ''TyrannosaurusRex''. Her chick attempts to do the same, but the ground is too hard, so the chick knocks itself out.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' cartoon ''[[WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies The China Shop]]'': An ostrich figurine sticks its head into the base it is standing on when the [[FaunsAndSatyrs Satyr]] starts throwing dishes. Its exposed legs and neck are promptly sliced through by a plate and it reassembles into a shorter bird.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn'' cartoon ''Mother Was A Rooster'', Foggy adopts a baby ostrich, who hides his head in the sand whenever Barnyard Dawg called him an "ugly chicken." When Foghorn and Dawg get their heads stuck in the ground in he end, the ostrich says "They left me all alone. Where did everybody go?"
* According to the back story of ''WesternAnimation/ChannelUmptee3'', Orson the ostrich lived his life with his head in the ground like the other ostriches. When he took it out and looked around, he saw that TheWorldIsJustAwesome and decided to share it with everyone through a TV show.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'' episode, "Honest Ostrich", Stanley feels he let Marci down when he can't find a soccer ball she let him borrow for a big game, and he wishes that he could hide his head in the sand like an ostrich and forget the whole day. Dennis points out to him that Ostriches don't really hide their heads in the sand, and after finding out the truth in the GreatBigBookOfEverything, he finds out that Ostriches really duck their heads in the grass to avoid being spotted by predators. So they tell the kids that one myth is not true, and replace it with a variant on the myth instead? Ostriches don't hide their heads in the grass either to hide from predators. As the description says, they run.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsOfMadagascar'' had an ostrich that gets her head stuck in quick-drying cement, alluding the "ostrich with its head in the ground" pose. This gets [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] by the characters, who point out how wrong this trope is.
* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard''. In "Bunga The Wise," Bunga tells an ostrich who's scared of hyenas to hide her head in the ground to avoid seeing them. When the rest of the Lion Guard see her doing this, they point out that ostriches don't actually do such a thing. After they help the ostrich to pull her stuck head out, she complains about [[RealityEnsues how hard it is to breathe down there]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}'' episode "The Show Must Go On" has ostrich ballet dancer Madamoiselle Soretoza, who would bury her head in a sandbox [[ThePrimaDonna if things don't go her way]].
* Invoked in a "Back to the show" [[AdBumper ad bumper]] for ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg''; Wendell spooks an ostrich so it can bury its head in the sand, allowing him to pluck its plumage to use as FluffyFashionFeathers.
* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' where during a game of hide-and-seek, Rolf does this at an attempt to pick a more optimum hiding spot.

* In ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches'' episode "The Hungry Ostrich Empire", Jack brings an ostrich to Oggy's house for him to petsit. It sticks its head into the floorboards whenever someone tries to hurt it.