The male's neck and thighs are blue-grey becoming a brighter blue in the breeding season whilst the body feathering is a darker black than in other Ostrich subspecies.
These birds are regarded by the IOC and Avibase as a separate species (Struthio molybdophanes) from all the other subspecies of Ostrich. Mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests this taxon split from other Ostrich taxons 4 million years ago initially being separated by the Rift Valley. Their range overlaps with Masai Ostrich but whereas Masai Ostrich is an open plains grazer, Somali Ostrich prefers dry bushland where it is essentially a browser; the two don't hybridise in the wild. Female Somali Ostrich is browner than the other Ostrich taxons.
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Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN
Antarctica
AO
Atlantic Ocean
AU
Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL
Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO
Indian Ocean
LA
Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA
Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA
North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO
Northern oceans
OR
Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)