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Great Bustard Otis tarda (Taczanowski, 1874)
(Photo credits: David Kjaer) For details of ongoing conservation activities of the Great Bustard please click on the following link:
Classification
Vernacular names: Deodagh (Chitral)
Identification characteristics: Male: 75-105 cm. Large, grey-and-brown bustard. Grey head and neck, brown barred black above. White underparts with a broad rich chestnut breast-band, developing with age. Significantly larger than females and develops a gular pouch and long white whiskers during the breeding season. Upright stance and deliberate walk. In flight, powerful regular wing beats resemble an eagle, but does not glide. Female: Smaller than male and without chestnut breast-band or moustaches
Distribution & population: Otis tarda breeds in Morocco (c. 150 birds),Portugal (1,435 birds), Spain (23,055-25,000 birds), Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary (1,100-1,300 birds), Bulgaria, Romania (nearly extirpated), Moldova, Turkey (800-3,000 birds), Iran, Russia (8,000 birds), Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia (1,000 birds), and China (2,250-3,300 birds); and a reintroduction scheme is currently taking place in the United Kingdom. The population may number 45,000 individuals of which 4,200-4,500 occur in east Asia. Its Palearctic range is becoming increasingly disjunct and there have been rapid declines and some extinctions throughout eastern and central Europe and in parts of Asia, particularly Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Most populations are partially migratory and 8,000-10,000 birds occur on passage or in winter in Ukraine.
Habits: Closely resembles the habits of the Great Indian Bustard. Keeps in droves of 5-15 birds. Usually very wild and shy, flying off at a long range. Said to feed in flocks like geese.
Food: The species is omnivorous (Cramp and Simmons 1980). On the breeding grounds in Russia, it mainly eats insects (beetles, locusts) and plants (flowers of Compositae, a variety of grasses and leaves of Cruciferae, wheat sprouts and seeds), along with some vertebrates (voles, chicks, lizards, frogs) (Kozlova 1975). The stomach of an adult female collected in Jilin, China, in June contained 75% plant material (Hemerocallis flava) and 25% grasshoppers (Yao Jing et al. 1997). When rearing chicks, it feeds mainly on Orthoptera and Coleoptera (Riabov 1949, Kelberg and Smirnov 1988, Gao Zhongxin 1990), and ants are an important food source for the chicks (Isakov and Flint 1987). On the wintering grounds, it feeds on the seedlings of pea and wheat (Chan and Goroshko 1998), and in the Yellow River delta birds fed on soybean, green peas, grass shoots and insects (Zhao Yanmao and Song Chaoshu 1995). The species has been observed to feed on seeds in winter and insects in spring and autumn (Chan and Goroshko 1998).
Breeding: Male Great Bustards become sexually mature at 5-6 years, and females at 3-4 years (Isakov and Flint 1987; also Cramp and Simmons 1980). In Xinjiang, the species arrives on the breeding grounds in the middle of April (Gao Xingyi verbally 1997). The males display on more-or-less fixed leks, usually near to the nesting areas of the females (Isakov and Flint 1987). The nest are simple, consisting of shallow pits on dry, soft slopes with Prunus armeniaca, Hemerocallis flava, Euphorbia fischeriana andAneurolepidium chinense; no nesting material is used, and the nests are c.30 cm in diameter and vary in depth from 2 to 20 cm (Yao Jing et al. 1997). In Xinjiang, they may nest close to each other, sometimes only 200 m apart (Gao Xingyi verbally 1997). In China, eggs are laid from early May (Yao Jing et al.1997). In Xinjiang, 60% of nests contain two eggs and 40% three or four (Gao Xingyi verbally 1997). In Tuva, clutches usually contain two, and less often three eggs (Kelberg and Smirnov 1988), while second clutches contain only one (Isakov and Flint 1987). Only the females incubate the eggs, for 21-28 days (Isakov and Flint 1987), or 30-35 days (Yao Jing et al. 1997), and the males take no part in incubation or care of chicks (Yao Jing et al. 1997). The chicks can stand two days after hatching, forage independently after 10 days (Yao Jing et al. 1997), and fly at 30-35 days (Isakov and Flint 1987).
Habitat: It occurs in open, flat or somewhat rolling landscapes, usually with a mixture of steppe grassland, crops (cereals, oilseeds, fodder plants) and bare ground. Areas with little or no disturbance and abundant supply of insects are required for successful breeding.
Threats: Key threats are increased habitat fragmentation and habitat loss due to agricultural intensification, which has the potential to increase following land privatisation in eastern Europe and is occurring in China. Habitat loss and fragmentation continues as a result of ploughing of grasslands, intensive grazing, afforestation and increasing development of irrigation schemes, roads, power-lines, fencing and ditches. Mechanisation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, fire and predation all contribute to high mortality in eggs, chicks and juveniles. Hunting is a major threat in Morocco, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine and China and collision with overhead power lines is another significant threat.
Conservation measures underway: CITES Appendix I and II, CMS Appendix I and II and CMS MoU in place since 2002. EU Wild Birds Directive Annex I, Bern Convention Annex II, Bonn Convention Annex I. A European action plan was published in 1996 and an action plan for east Asian populations in 1998.
Conservation measures proposed: Research limiting factors. Protect and manage breeding and wintering areas. Upgrade existing and establish new protected areas in east Asia. Implement agri-environment measures for low-intensity farming. Photo gallery: Information compiled from: Internet sites: Books:
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