Editing Common ostrich (section)

===Subspecies===
Four [[subspecies]] are recognized:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subspecies of the common ostrich
! Subspecies !! Description !! Image
|-
|'''[[North African ostrich]]''' (''S. c. camelus''), also known as the '''red-necked ostrich''' or '''Barbary ostrich''' || Lives in North Africa. Historically it was the most widespread subspecies, ranging from [[Ethiopia]] and [[Sudan]] in the east throughout the [[Sahel]]<ref name="Clements"/> to [[Senegal]] and [[Mauritania]] in the west, and north to [[Egypt]] and southern [[Morocco]], respectively. It has now disappeared from large parts of this range,<ref name=Thiollay/> and it only remains in six of the 18 countries where it originally occurred, leading some to consider it [[Critically Endangered]].<ref name=SaharaConservation>Sahara Conservation Fund: {{cite web |url=https://saharaconservation.org/north-african-ostrich/ |title=North African Ostrich Recovery Project |date=16 September 2019 |access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref> It is the largest subspecies, at {{cvt|2.74|m}} in height and up to {{cvt|154|kg}} in weight.<ref name="Roots 2006"/> The neck is pinkish-red, the plumage of males is black and white, and the plumage of females is grey.<ref name="Roots 2006"/>

*Northern Africa: [[Algeria]], the [[Central African Republic]], [[Chad]], [[Egypt]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Libya]], [[Mali]], [[Mauritania]], [[Morocco]], [[Sudan]], [[South Sudan]], [[Togo]], and [[Tunisia]]
*Western Africa: [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Cameroon]], [[Ghana]], [[Niger]], [[Nigeria]], and [[Senegal]]
||[[File:Yaen001.jpg|150px]]
|-
|'''[[South African ostrich]]''' (''S. c. australis''), also known as the '''black-necked ostrich''', '''Cape ostrich''', or '''southern ostrich''' || Found south of the [[Zambezi]] and [[Cunene River|Cunene]] Rivers. It is farmed for its meat, [[Ostrich leather|leather]], and feathers in the [[Little Karoo]] area of [[Cape Province]].<ref name=Stocker/>

*Southern Africa: [[Angola]], [[Botswana]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Namibia]], South Africa, [[Zambia]], and [[Zimbabwe]]
||[[File:Ostrich (Struthio camelus) male (13994461256).jpg|150px]]
|-
|'''[[Masai ostrich]]''' (''S. c. massaicus''), also known as the '''pink-necked ostrich''' or '''East African ostrich'''|| It has some small feathers on its head, and its neck and thighs are pink. During the [[mating season]], the male's neck and thighs become brighter. Its range is essentially limited to southern [[Kenya]] and eastern [[Tanzania]]<ref name="Clements" /> and [[Ethiopia]] and parts of southern [[Somalia]].<ref name="Roots 2006"/>

*Eastern Africa: [[Burundi]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], [[Rwanda]], [[Somalia]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Uganda]]
||[[File:Ostrich Struthio camelus Tanzania 3742 cropped Nevit.jpg|150px]] 
|-
|'''[[Arabian ostrich]]''' {{nowrap|({{dagger}}''S. c. syriacus''),}} also known as the '''Syrian ostrich''' or '''Middle Eastern ostrich'''|| Was formerly very common in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Syria]],<ref name="Clements"/> [[Iraq]], and [[Israel]]i [[Negev]];<ref name="haaretz_ref1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2007-12-25/ty-article/the-bitter-fate-of-ostriches-in-the-wild/0000017f-db5a-db5a-a57f-db7af66d0000|title=The Bitter Fate of Ostriches in the Wild|last=Rinat|first=Zafrir|date=December 25, 2007|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=November 8, 2023|language=en}}</ref> it became extinct around 1966.

*Western Asia: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen 
||[[File:Arabian Ostrich hunt.jpg|150px]]
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Somali ostrich
! Species !! Description !! Image
|-
|'''[[Somali ostrich]]''' (''S. molybdophanes''), also known as the '''blue-necked ostrich''' || Found in southern [[Ethiopia]], northeastern [[Kenya]], and [[Somalia]].<ref name="Clements" /> The neck and thighs are grey-blue, and during the mating season, the male's neck and thighs become brighter and bluer. The females are more brown than those of other subspecies.<ref name="Roots 2006"/> It generally lives in pairs or alone, rather than in flocks. Its range overlaps with ''S. c. massaicus'' in northeastern Kenya.<ref name="Roots 2006"/>

*Northeastern Africa: [[Djibouti]], [[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], and [[Somalia]]
||[[File:Struthio molybdophanes.jpg|150px]]
|-
|}
 
Some analyses indicate that the Somali ostrich is now considered a full species; the [[Tree of Life Web Project|Tree of Life Project]], ''[[The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World]]'', [[BirdLife International]], and the [[Birds of the World: Recommended English Names|IOC World Bird List]] recognize it as a different species. A few authorities, including the ''[[Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World]]'', do not recognize it as separate.<ref name=IUCN_molybdophanes /><ref>Taylor, Joe (4 September 2013). [http://www.birdlife.org/globally-threatened-bird-forums/2013/09/ostrich-struthio-camelus-is-being-split-list-s-molybdophanes-as-near-threatened-or-vulnerable/ "Archived 2014 discussion: Ostrich (''Struthio camelus'') is being split: list S. molybdophanes as Near Threatened or Vulnerable?"], birdlife.org.</ref> [[Mitochondrial DNA]] [[haplotype]] comparisons suggest that it diverged from the other ostriches around 4 [[mya (unit)|mya]] due to the formation of the [[East African Rift]]. Hybridization with the subspecies that evolved southwestwards of its range, ''S. c. massaicus'', has apparently been prevented from occurring on a significant scale by ecological separation; the Somali ostrich prefers bushland where it browses middle-height vegetation for food while the Masai ostrich is, like the other subspecies, a [[grazing]] bird of the open [[savanna]] and ''[[miombo]]'' habitat.<ref name=Freitag/>

The population from [[Río de Oro]] was once separated as ''Struthio camelus spatzi'' because its eggshell pores were shaped like a teardrop and not round. As there is considerable variation of this character and there were no other differences between these birds and adjacent populations of ''S. c. camelus'', the separation is no longer considered valid.<ref name=Bezuidenhout/><ref name =Bezuidenhout2/> However, a study analysing the postcranial skeleton of all living and recently extinct species and subspecies of ostriches appeared to validate ''S. c. spatzi'' based on its unique skeletal proportions.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Elzanowski, Andrzej|author2=Louchart, Antoine|year=2022|title=Metric variation in the postcranial skeleton of ostriches, ''Struthio'' (Aves: Palaeognathae), with new data on extinct subspecies|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=195|issue=1|pages=88–105|url= https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab049|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab049}}</ref> This population disappeared in the latter half of the 20th century. There were 19th-century reports of the existence of small ostriches in North Africa; these are referred to as Levaillant's ostrich (''Struthio bidactylus'') but remain a hypothetical form not supported by material evidence.<ref name=Fuller/>