Tag Archives: Struthionidae

Struthio camelus ssp. syriacus Rothschild

Arabian Ostrich (Struthio camelus ssp. syriacus)  

The Ostrich is the largest living bird, it produces the largest eggs of any living bird, which, on the other hand are the smallest of any eggs when compared to adult birds.  

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The Arabian Ostrich was a subspecies that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula and parts of the Middle East region, it was described in 1919.  

The Arabian form was almost similar to the North African Ostrich (Struthio camelus ssp. camelus L.), but was slightly smaller, furthermore the females are said to have been somewhat lighter colored than those of the North African form.  

The Arabian Ostrich was heavily hunted, a fate that is shared with many other large birds like bustards, in the end it was hunted to extinction.  

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In recent times North African Ostriches were introduced to Arabia and Israel, to replace the extinct Arabian form.  

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edited: 20.03.2018