Struthio molybdophanes
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey (from a photo by Jamion Blackwell) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
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.
Struthio molybdophanes was first described in the Norddeutsche allgemeine Zeitung Sunday Supplement of 16 September 1883 by Anton Reichenow, who noted the ostrich's distribution as extending over the plains of Somali- and western Galla-Land on the east coast of Africa from 10 degrees north to the Equator. An examination of the mitochondrial DNA of Struthio taxa, including the extinct Arabian ostrich S. c. syriacus, has found that the... Wikipedia →
Song0:11
Ethiopia · 2015
© Andrew Spencer · XC292043 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Bangladesh National Zoo | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 3 | Joya Grande | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Parque del pueblo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | The Zoo Wild Life Park | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 6 | Zoologico Sahuatoba | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Unidad de Manejo Ambiental | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | Parque del Centenario | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Somali Ostrich sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 721 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 341 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Somali Ostrich in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against about 50% in April–June, August and October–December, the lowest months. That is one of Samburu National Reserve's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 95 mm in April.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Somali Ostrich sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Somali Ostrich sightings, Samburu National Reserve has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Tsavo East National Park (Kenya, about 30%) and Meru National Park (Kenya, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Somali Ostrich is recorded against all the birds logged in Samburu National Reserve (721 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
