Great Bustard. The heaviest flying bird

Or Bustard Kori- a large flying bird that lives, as the name implies, on the African continent. Found in open areas with sandy soils, overgrown with low grass and shrubs, as well as in sparsely wooded savannas and semi-deserts. These characteristics correspond to the territories of Botswana, Namibia, Partial Angola, Zambabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa. Mainly leads sedentary image life, making minor movements after the rains.

African Bustard is the heaviest flying bird on the continent. Males reach a weight of up to 19 kg, and grow up to 130 cm in length. Females vary greatly in size - they are about 2/3 lighter than males, and weigh on average 5.5 kg. The bird has relatively long neck and very long legs, the overall tone of the feathers is gray-brown.

The feathers on the neck are long and gray in color with a huge number of black and white speckles. The back and part of the wings are brown-brown, the chest and belly are white, and there are several dozen randomly scattered black spots on the folds of the wings. On the back of the head there is a long crest of black feathers, the legs and beak are yellowish.

The Great African Bustard spends most of its time on the ground. Being a large and heavy bird, it takes off only when absolutely necessary.

Bustards live both alone and in small groups of 5-7 birds. They are active in the mornings and evenings, when they slowly walk along the ground in search of food. They are quite omnivorous, but mainly eat insects such as locusts, grasshoppers and caterpillars. Also, their menu often includes lizards, chameleons, snakes, small mammals and even chicks, eggs and carrion. Bustard Kori They regularly visit watering holes if they are located nearby, but the bird can also be found far from water sources. What is unusual is that they do not scoop up water like other birds, but rather suck it.

The mating season for the Great Bustard is most active in November and December. Like other bustards, this species “practices” a polygamous model of reproduction - one male mates with many females. Fierce skirmishes often occur between males, when they, having swollen their crops, fluffed up the feathers on their necks, lowered their wings and protruded their tails, rush at each other, showering their opponents with a hail of blows with their beaks.

After mating, the female Kori bustard lays 2 (rarely more or less) eggs on the bare ground. Then, for 23-30 days, the female incubates the clutch, practically without leaving the nest. When the chicks hatch, she provides them with soft food so they can eat it. The chicks fledge at 4-5 weeks, but will be able to fly confidently only at the age of 3-4 months.

Being primarily a ground-dwelling bird, the Houbara Bustard is prey to a variety of predators. Among them, leopard, cheetah, mountain pythons, jackals and martial eagles (the last two predators are especially dangerous for eggs and chicks) attack bustards of all ages. African warthogs, mongooses and baboons can also eat eggs and chicks. On average, out of two chicks, only one survives to adulthood. In case of danger, the female tries to protect the offspring by fluffing out her wings and tail to appear larger, but she is not always able to preserve the brood.

Domain: Eukaryotes

Kingdom: Animals

Type: Chordates

Class: Birds

Squad: Craniformes

Family: Bustards

Genus: Bustards (Otis Linnaeus, 1758)

Bustard habitats

Most members of this family live in the tropics. Of the two dozen species, only three managed to adapt to life in Eurasia and North Africa: common or great bustard, jack or houbara bustard, and little bustard (bustard).

In tropical Asia (mainly on the Hindustan Peninsula) you can find two species of floricans and the great Indian Bustard, and in Australia - the great Australian one. Obviously, the historical homeland of all bustards is Africa, since this is where their species diversity is most present. Dutch Boer settlers called small African bustards korhaans, and later this name was fixed in scientific literature.

Appearance

This bird has a rather well-built physique. Thus, the bustard is a rather massive animal. Outwardly, she resembles a turkey. The bustard has a very wide chest and a thick neck. The difference in weight between the sexes is quite significant. Male bustards weigh 7-16 kg, and females are about 2 times smaller. The body length of the former is about 105 cm, while the latter rarely exceed 80 cm in size.

These birds have long, wide and strong wings. Their span can vary from 190 to 260 cm. The tail of birds is also long. The feathers are slightly rounded at the end. The bustard's legs are not covered with feathers. They are quite long and thick. Thanks to its strong limbs, the bird can run quickly. The bird's feet have only 3 toes, which are crowned with strong claws.

Bustards are distinguished by their bright, elegant plumage, including different shades of gray, white, red and even black. Typically, the head and neck of this feathered giant are ash-gray in color. Upper part The wings and back are distinguished by a reddish-ocher color with a characteristic streaky pattern. Usually the belly, chest, undertail and inner part of the wing are painted white. In spring, males acquire breeding plumage. In the neck area they develop a bright orange collar of feathers, and also grow characteristic hard feather tufts that form long mustaches. Female during mating season does not change the color of the plumage.

There are 2 known subspecies of bustards, living in different territories. They have minor differences in plumage color. In the Dudak bustard it is lighter.

This bird has a rather short grayish beak. The eyes are small, with a dark iris. The steppe bustard is more adapted for moving on land. A frightened bird often runs up to 30 m to fly. Such a difficult takeoff is largely due to its heavy weight.

In reality, these birds are extremely timid and, when danger approaches, try to hide in tall grass, where they freeze. They fly into the air only if the pursuit on the ground does not stop. During flight they do not rise too high. To support their massive bodies in the air, birds make wide, measured swings. The flight is not very fast.

Lifestyle

Bustards are active during the daytime. They usually walk slowly on the ground, eating fresh greens and pecking at bugs and grasshoppers. Sometimes the bird may make several jumps to catch prey. In the spring, male bustards stage special “concerts” to attract the attention of females. To do this, birds usually choose a lek for themselves - the top or gentle slope of a hill. The performance usually takes place early in the morning or evening. The male stands in the center of the chosen area and demonstrates his plumage, lowers his wings, raises his tail, throws back his head and makes dull sounds. Females come to watch the dancing male. From these the male then chooses a mate.

At the end of spring, the female builds a nest right on the ground. Usually this is just a shallow hole that the bird carefully compacts. She lays one or two eggs in the nest, which she incubates for three to four weeks. At first, the female feeds them with ant eggs, but very soon the chicks begin to look for food on their own. Usually the chicks stay with their mother until winter, but sometimes they do not leave her until spring. The male does not help the female in incubation and nursing.

Bustard diet

The bird has a rich gastronomic assortment, which includes animal and plant components, the ratio of which is influenced by the age and sex of the bustard, its area of residence and the availability of specific food.

Adults readily eat leaves, shoots, inflorescences and seeds of such cultivated/wild plants as:

dandelion, thistle, salsify, sow thistle, tansy, kulbaba;
meadow and creeping clover, sainfoin, peas and alfalfa (sown);
seed and field radish, rapeseed, cabbage, turnips, black mustard;
goat and fescue;
various plantains.

Occasionally it switches to the roots of herbs - poultry grass, creeping wheatgrass and onion. When there is a shortage of usual vegetation, the bustard switches to tougher food, for example, beet shoots. But coarse beet fibers often cause the death of birds due to digestive disorders.

The composition of animal feed looks something like this:

adults/larvae of locusts, grasshoppers, crickets and mole crickets;
beetles/larvae of ground beetles, carrion beetles, Colorado potato beetles, darkling beetles, leaf beetles and weevils;
butterfly caterpillars and bugs (rare);
snails, earthworms and earwigs;
lizards, frogs, skylark chicks and other ground-nesting birds;
small rodents;
ants/pupae of the genus Formica (to feed the chicks).

Bustards cannot do without water: in the summer they fly to water, in the winter they are content with snow.

Reproduction

Courtship among bustards is quite colorful. Males gather for mating - permanent place(clearing or slope). This usually happens early in the morning. They fluff their tail, inflate and arch their neck. They become like feather balls. They demonstrate their beauty in every possible way to the females, who watch the action with interest. A male can mate with several partners, but females can also alternately mate with more than one male.

The female makes only one clutch (there is conflicting information regarding the second clutch if the first one is lost). She also builds a nest, which is simply a hole she dug in the ground. Overgrown with grass around the perimeter, the nest is completely invisible from the outside. The clutch contains 1-2 fairly large eggs (7-9 cm) of greenish or brownish color with mottled spots.

After mating, males lose all interest in their friends and, gathering in flocks, go to molting areas. The bustard sits on the clutch for 3-4 weeks. The chicks hatch with fluffy feathers and are quite independent. If the bustards, in the opinion of the mother, are in danger, then she emits an alarm signal, upon hearing which the chicks lie down in the grass and stretch out their necks. They have a very variegated color; it is extremely difficult to see them in the steppe.

In a month their weight may already be 2-3 kg. The mother feeds the chicks for the first 2-3 weeks. The young feed exclusively on ants and their larvae. Then the bustards switch to self-catering. The bustard is a very good mother; it stays with the chicks until winter, and sometimes until spring.

Shedding

In adult birds, they molt twice a year - a complete autumn post-nuptial moult and a partial spring pre-nuptial molt. During the full molt, the change of head, body and tail feathers, as a rule, continues from the end of June or the first half of July until the end of September or the beginning of October. Males usually molt slightly earlier than females. From July to September, the primary flight feathers are replaced, and, as a rule, individual feathers are replaced in pairs - this helps the bird not to lose the ability to fly. Not all flight feathers change in one season; a complete change lasts for two full molts. The secondaries appear to be replaced irregularly. During the spring molting period, small plumage and sometimes individual flight feathers are replaced.

In the first year of life, there are three molts per year - nesting, first winter and first mating, which are preceded by the first and second downy plumes. The first plumage on the wings begins to develop at the age of 6 days, simultaneously with the change of down on the rest of the body. Nesting molt, during which the flight feathers and tail feathers are partially replaced, occurs at the age of about 40 days. During the first winter molt, which begins at the age of 3 months, the plumage is completely replaced; during the first spring (February - June) - part of the tail feathers, flight feathers, greater and lower wing coverts, part of the body plumage.

Enemies

The bustard's biggest enemy is humans, as well as several representatives of the animal world, including the fox, steppe eagle, and golden eagle. These predators hunt mainly young birds, but sometimes they are able to defeat an adult bustard. Crows also devastate bustard nests. In Central Europe, 60-90% of the livestock is regularly destroyed during the cultivation of fields and meadows. High mortality among newborn chicks is caused by cool and humid climate. Chicks become easy prey for predators. Adult bustards often die when they hit high voltage wires while flying. All this led to the fact that the bustard bird is listed in the Red Book.

Bustard hunting

Due to the fact that the bustard is an endangered species and its population is isolated in some places, hunting for it is not widespread.

Bustard hunting in summer

IN summer period They practice hunting bustards with dogs. Summer hunting for bustards is especially difficult and tiring, as it takes place under the scorching sun and requires strict camouflage. In order not to scare off the bustard, when this method Binoculars are often used when hunting. This makes it possible to see the exact location of adults and young animals feeding in the field. Having tracked the brood, the hunter must call the dog to his leg and force it to silently follow him to the location of the discovered bustards. It is better not to look for hidden adult bustards - it is preferable for the shooter to direct his attention to the young, which do not take off, but only run in the grass. They hunt him with a dog, because in the summer he stands up well.

Bustard hunting in autumn

Hunting for bustards from the approach is practiced in the fall most often, because the young animals leave the grain, move to open areas and no longer withstand the stand hunting dog. They shoot at him with a rifle. The stealth is carried out extremely carefully and carefully, using a human-sized wooden frame, which is covered with straw or hay and then moved in front of oneself as a camouflage.

Hunting for bustards from the entrance is carried out on a cart or on ordinary roads. The horse is not directed directly towards the bustard, but slightly in a detour - as if they are passing by. At the most convenient moment (when getting as close as possible to the birds), the hunter abruptly jumps off the cart and runs towards the bustards until they take flight. They beat the birds on the rise.

When hunting bustards with a drive, a whole group of hunters is used - 6-8 people. 2 of them serve as beaters, 4-6 – shooters. During such a hunt, they also use a cart or cart, on which they go to open space in search of bustards. Having noticed the birds, they approach them no more than 500/600 steps, continuing to move around the flock. Gradually, all the shooters imperceptibly jump off the cart one after another and disperse into numbers - behind the boundaries, tall grass and wormwood or nettle bushes. The remaining hunters go around the herd and begin an “offensive” from the opposite side, driving the bustards towards the hidden shooters. They all travel the same way - on carts, preferably 2.

Population and species status

Until the 20th century, the bustard was widespread, inhabiting the vast steppes of Eurasia. Now the species is recognized as endangered, and the bird is included in the Red Books of several countries and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is also protected by individual international conventions.

The reasons for the extinction of the species are mainly anthropogenic - uncontrolled hunting, changes in habitats, and the work of agricultural machines.

According to some reports, the bustard has been completely exterminated in France, Scandinavia, Poland, England, the Balkans and Morocco. It is believed that there are about 200 birds left in northern Germany, approximately 1,300–1,400 dudak in Hungary and the adjacent regions of Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania, and less than 15 thousand individuals on the Iberian Peninsula.

In Rus', the bustard was called the “princely” game, and was caught in huge quantities with the help of birds of prey and hounds. Now on post-Soviet space approximately 11 thousand individuals have been registered, of which only 300–600 birds (living in Buryatia) belong to the eastern subspecies. To save the species, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves have been created in Eurasia, captive breeding of the bustard has begun and its reintroduction to those places from which it was previously forced out. In Russia, a similar reserve was opened in the Saratov region.

Video

BUSTARD

"DROFA", published. house, Moscow. Basic in 1991 as LLC. Textbooks, teaching methods. and reference literature for general education. uch. establishments.

Large Russian encyclopedic dictionary. 2012

Features and habitat

They are sensitive and timid, seeing danger from afar, they run away and hide in the grass. After this they are practically impossible to find. They fly low above the ground, and not fast. The wingspan is 2.5 meters. Those individuals who are in mature age don't really like to fly. Most of their life is spent searching for food.

There are two subspecies of bustards: European and East Siberian. The European bird is distinguished by a darker head color, a dorsal pattern with narrow stripes and a little vague. The East Siberian has a clearer pattern on the back, the stripes are wider and the males have feathers similar to the mustache on the head.

Character and lifestyle

As already mentioned above, the bustard is a steppe bird that usually spends its time in the field in search of food. Birds do not have sweat glands, so in the heat they lie on the ground and spread their wings, breathing heavily.

Or they hide in the shadows. They also lack lubricant on the feathers, which causes them to get wet. This has a particularly negative effect before frosts, when the birds get wet and freeze and find it difficult to move.

The bird's diet includes various cereals, grass (young boring plants are especially preferred), insects (locusts, grasshoppers) and even larvae. Frogs and mice are a delicacy for them.

After the bird has eaten a hearty meal, it goes to a watering hole to quench its thirst. They are very selective regarding water, so they even place their nests near bodies of water they like, and in winter they consume snow. But they feed their chicks only with their larvae.

To the bustard They can attack from the air. Predators also love to feast on this bird. They are attacked by: foxes and, as well as cats and dogs. Nests are also in danger; predators happily feast on bustard chicks and eggs.

Reproduction and lifespan

Relationships among birds begin in the spring, with mating games. The male becomes mature in the fifth year of his life, it is at this age that he has plumage that can be shown to the female. Females mature much faster; already at the age of 3-4 years they are ready to mate.

Initially, the male raises his fluffy tail up and shows his white undertail. Then he inflates his neck and throws his neck back, showing it for everyone to see. And the last action is to spread his wings so that all females can appreciate him. You can also hear extraordinary singing. Mating games begin early in the morning.

Their relationships are polygamous; during one season, a male can mate with several partners. After mating, the female goes to build a nest, and the male seduces other females.

The female does not dig very well deep hole and covers it with blades of grass. Moreover, they return to the nesting site every year. From April to May, it lays no more than three eggs, up to 9 cm in diameter. Eggs are laid once per season. The eggs are green-brown or olive-colored with dark speckles.

The female incubates the eggs alone for three to four weeks. It is almost impossible to see her on eggs due to her plumage. The chick sits in the nest for only one day; from the second day it goes with its mother in search of food.

If the chick sits in the nest, the mother herself brings him food, and if she sees danger, she screams and the chicks hide in the grass. The female wards off danger by pretending to be sick from the nest, and then attacks the enemy herself. After 1.5 months, the chicks are already flying freely, but the female still takes care of them. In autumn, birds fly away for the winter.

The bustard is very shy, the bird hides and builds nests in dense thickets

The average life expectancy is 20 years. Males can significantly shorten their lifespan if they mate too often.

The bustard is a small species, so that the bird does not completely disappear from our planet, it was brought to Krasnaya. It is forbidden to hunt it; scientists are looking for ways to grow bustard at home.

If employees special centers Those involved in the protection of endangered species find bird eggs in places that are dangerous to its life, then collect them and place them in incubators. After the chicks hatch, they are released into the wild.

African Great Bustard

Birds are the most different sizes and masses. The largest living bird recognized African ostrich. But, as you know, he does not fly. Where does the heaviest flying bird live? Yes, it’s all there in Africa and has a name - the great bustard (Ardeotis kori) from the order Crane-like creatures. The African great bustard is much larger than the common bustard, which lives in the CIS and, by the way, is the heaviest flying bird in Eurasia.

Local endemics

A male African Great Bustard weighs about 20 kg with a total length of up to 120 cm. Females are smaller. African great bustards make an impressive impression: a long neck, a slightly flattened head crowned with a black crest. On the head, neck and belly of the bird, grayish-whitish tones predominate, and on the back, wings and tail there is dense, hard brown plumage.

African great bustards, being endemic, inhabit mainly African savannas, overgrown with low vegetation. Sometimes found in agricultural landscapes. Bustards walk more than fly, so they have strong, thick legs adapted for fast movement By earth's surface.

Bustard lifestyle

They have excellent camouflage ability in the grass. Unlike their Eurasian migratory relatives, African bustards lead a sedentary lifestyle. The flight of the Great African Bustard is something special. It’s good that such “birds” don’t fly around here.

Bustards have a mixed diet: plant and animal food. The diet of the adult bustard consists of green shoots, various seeds and grains, and insects. The need for water, again in contrast to the bustard, which lives in temperate latitudes, in the African Great Bustard is minimal. The coccygeal gland is absent. The life expectancy of a bustard in natural conditions rarely exceeds 20 years. However, there are cases when individual birds crossed the forty-year mark.

Reproduction in Bustards

Pairs are formed only on short period reproduction. Great African Bustards are mating on the ground. The movements of males during mating games are distinctive. The bustard's nest is made in the ground, lightly lined with grass. The clutch contains 2-3 eggs of variegated color. Incubation lasts 20-30 days. This responsibility falls entirely on the female. Having barely hatched from the eggs and dried out a little, the chicks are ready to follow their mother. Currently, the heaviest flying birds are endangered and hunting, which was so common in the past, is now completely prohibited.