Age · Baby

Baby Ostrich in dreams

Avoidance — the head in the sand, named for what it is.

In its baby form, the symbol points to a new, vulnerable instance of itself — something that requires care, cannot yet defend itself, and may not yet be ready for the world. Forgetting or losing the baby version of the symbol in the dream is one of the dictionary's strongest signals of neglect.

An ostrich in a dream is the dictionary's most direct image of avoidance. The folk image of the ostrich putting its head in the sand is not accurate to the bird in real life, but it is accurate to the dream. The dream is naming a specific avoidance you have been running.

The dream rarely asks you to do anything dramatic about it — most often it just makes the avoidance visible to you. On waking, the question to ask is: what is the thing I have been pretending not to see?

Where you often see it. An ostrich head down in a familiar landscape. The dream uses the ostrich for avoidance — the head in the sand, named for what it is.

What it is not. An ostrich is not literal cowardice. The dictionary reads it as the dreamer's recognisable strategy of looking away.

Related in the dictionary. Read ostrich with chase, hiding, and any scene of refusing to look.

← Read the base interpretation of Ostrich

Disclaimer: For entertainment and self-reflection only. Not a substitute for professional advice.