Georgia Ostrich Causes Traffic Delays On Interstate 20, But Was It Really An Emu?

The morning drive can be full of surprises. Commuters in Douglas County, Georgia, experienced highway delays Tuesday morning for quite an odd reason -- an ostrich was on the loose.

Authorities in Douglas County -- just outside of Atlanta -- blocked off a part of Interstate 20 after the exotic bird was seen running around the road, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The ostrich caused backups before many people had the chance to grab their first cup of coffee, running loose in the early morning before daybreak. Animal control officers were able to capture the bird at about 7 a.m. EDT, reported Mark Arum of WSB radio. It's unclear where it came from or how it got on the highway.

While ostriches cannot fly, their long legs allow them to run up to 45 miles per hour, which is perhaps faster than some right-lane drivers. Ostriches can also grow to be about seven to nine feet tall, according to National Geographic.

As it turns out, the bird that caused delays in Georgia might have not been an ostrich after all, but an emu. A tweet from a local officer, retweeted by Mark Arum, suggested that perhaps the spotting was a case of misidentification. While emus are slightly smaller than ostriches, they can run about 30 miles per hour, jump seven feet straight up and are the only birds with calf muscles, according to the San Diego Zoo.