Masai Ostrich

     The Masai Ostrich, also known as the Pink-Necked Ostrich or the Eastern African Ostrich, is one of the 4 species of Ostriches. It’s found in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Masai ostrich is similar in appearance to its cousin; the North-African Ostrich. But it differs mainly in being smaller and having small feathers on the top of its head.

     The Masai ostrich has pink neck and thighs, which become brighter in males during the mating season. It has loose, soft, and smooth feathers, which are black with white primaries and tail in males, and grey brown with white primaries in females.

     As other ostrich species, the top hen lay her creamy white eggs first then other females put their eggs in her nest. After that she discards the extra eggs from the nest and gives hers the priority. In most cases the nest doesn’t contain more than 20 eggs although every hen can lay 7 – 10 eggs. The male Masai ostrich usually incubates eggs during the night shift and the female does the incubation during the day shift. The chicks hatch almost after 35 – 45 days and are reared by both males and females. They reach the size of their parents almost after 6 months and reach sexual maturity between 2 – 4 years.