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[[Image:MasaiOstrich.JPG]]

'''Common Name:''' Masai Ostrich<br>
'''Scientific Name:''' Struthio camelus massaicus

'''Size:'''  96 inches (2.5 m)

'''Habitat:''' Africa; found in East Africa. Their range is essentially limited to southern Kenya, eastern Tanzania and Ethiopia, in addition to parts of Southern Somalia.

'''Status:''' Least concern. '''Global population:''' Unknown. 

'''Diet:''' Grasses, shrubs, seeds, roots, leaves and flowers. Occasionally they consume locusts and grasshoppers. They have also been known to eat small animals, such as lizards and mice.

'''Nesting''': Ostriches are polygamous. The male gathers around him a harem of three to five females, all of which lay their eggs in the same nest over a three week period. Ostrich mating and egg laying will occur shortly before the onset of the rainy season, so that when the chicks hatch there will be plenty of food to sustain them until they are several months old. The completed clutch is incubated by the male at night and the dominant female during the day.

'''Cool Facts:'''  There is some range overlap between the Somali Ostrich and the Masai Ostrich.    Ecologically they are differentiated by the Somali Ostrich preferring bushier, more thickly vegetated areas, where it feeds largely by browsing, whereas the Masai Ostrich is mainly a grazer on open savanna. 

There are reports of interbreeding difficulties between the two taxa.


'''Found in [http://hivewire3d.com/songbird-remix-ostriches.html Songbird ReMix Ostriches]'''