Somali ostrich
| Somali ostrich | |
|---|---|
| Male at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya | |
| Female at Samburu National Reserve, Kenya | |
CITES Appendix I
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: | Struthioniformes |
| Family: | Struthionidae |
| Genus: | Struthio |
| Species: | S. molybdophanes
|
| Binomial name | |
| Struthio molybdophanes | |
| Yellow area shows range of Struthio molybdophanes | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), also known as the blue-necked ostrich, is a large flightless bird native to the Horn of Africa. It is one of two living species of ostriches, the other being the common ostrich. It was also previously considered a subspecies of the common ostrich, but was identified as a distinct species in 2014. For a long time, Somalis partially domesticated some of these ostriches.