Ratites
You will find images of each of these species below, linking to a page about each, similar or closely related species will be grouped together initially, until links require their splitting.
It should be noted that there are a few other species, which have been lost over time. These include 3 species of elephant bird from Madagascar and 9 species of Moa, all of which was found in New Zealand and all of which were lost. Thankfully at the current time, the Kiwi has not followed its bigger cousin, but we must not be laid back
Found across much of Africa, the common ostrich is a relatively common site in the right places. Capable of defending itself, it is usually only found in larger reserves. There are a number of subspecies click here to read more and visit our ostrich page
Recently shown to be a separate species (though looking very similar to the common ostrich), this is found in Somalia, most of Kenya, and north-east Ethiopia. Click here for the Ostrich page
Restricted to the islands of New Zealand, the kiwi is not one species but 5. Having arrived on these islands when there were no land predators, they lost the ability to fly. Unfortunately the arrival of Europeans quickly changed this. Click here for the Kiwi page
The Rhea consists of two species, named the greater and lesser Rhea. They are found on the plains of eastern and southern South America. To visit their page, click here
Cassowaries are found in Australia, Indonesian islands, and the island of New Guinea. Perhaps not surprisingly, given their distribution over a large area, and the fact that they are flightless, so cannot mix, there are 3 species. To visit their page click here
Finally the Tinamous family, a group of 46 species. It is likely to be a while before I get round to building pages for all these species, but should you work in conservation or tourism with these species, you can help fill in the gaps. Although initially thought to be a sister clade, recent analysis has shown that these birds are part of the Ratite family – Tinamou birds can fly
Those I have put in pictures for (29) are here but we will hpe to add the rest over time, as well as building species pages