Common Ostrich vs Sharp-shinned Hawk

Struthio camelus compared with Accipiter striatus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Ostrich	Sharp-shinned Hawk
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Struthioniformes (Struthioniformes)	Accipitriformes (Hawks & Eagles)
Family	Struthionidae	Accipitridae (Hawks & Eagles)
Genus	Struthio	Accipiter
Species	Struthio camelus	Accipiter striatus

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Ostrich and Sharp-shinned Hawk share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Common Ostrich

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Sharp-shinned Hawk

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Ostrich	Sharp-shinned Hawk
Diet	Omnivore	—
Average Lifespan	45 years	—
Average Length	2.1 m	—
Average Weight	100.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Ostrich

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 4 distinct biome types within the Indomalayan biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (4 countries), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru).

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, United States, and Venezuela.

Common Ostrich

The world's largest and heaviest living bird, common ostriches stand up to 2.8 meters tall and weigh 156 kg, inhabiting savannas and semi-arid plains of Africa. Flightless, they compensate with powerful long legs capable of delivering lethal kicks and sustaining running speeds of 70 km/h — the fastest of any bird. Their large eyes are the biggest of any land vertebrate. Ostriches lay the largest eggs of any living bird.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇳🇴 Norway