From Opus

This article has been marked for merging It has been discussed that this article be merged with Ostrich.

Struthio camelus molybdophanes

Photo by Corotauria
Photo taken: Samburu National Park, Kenya

[edit] Identification

Resembles Common Ostrich but the neck is bare and the thighs are blue-grey, male is a deeper black and female a lighter grey.

Height 200-250 cm, female shorter.

[edit] Distribution

Somalia, Ethiopia west to Awash Valley and south to Omo River and eastern Kenya south to Tsavo East NP.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] S. (camelus?) molybdophanes

• Full species status under Sibley & Monroe, 1996.
• Subspecies of Ostrich (Stuthio camelus) under Howard & Moore, 2003.
• Subspecies of Ostrich (Struthio camelus) under Clements, 2005.
• Opus consensus: Merge with camelus as subspecies.

[edit] Habitat

Savanna and scrubland, more often in bush and scrub than Common Ostrich.

[edit] Behaviour

Voice: Mainly silent except for deep booming call of male during the breeding season.

[edit] External Links