Bustard

Bustards
File:Kori Bustard.png
Kori Bustard
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Otidimorphae
Order:	Otidiformes Wagler, 1830
Family:	Otididae Rafinesque, 1815

Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World. They make up the family Otididae (formerly known as Otidae).

Bustards are all fairly large and two species, the Kori Bustard and the Great Bustards are frequently cited as the world's heaviest flying birds, since both may exceed 20 kg (44 lbs). The smallest species is the Little Brown Bustard, which is about 40 cm (16 in) and 600 grams (1.3 lbs) on average. In all bustards, males are substantially larger than females, often about 30% longer and twice the weight. They are among the most sexually dimorphic groups of birds.

Bustards are omnivorous, feeding principally on seeds and invertebrates. They make their nests on the ground, making their eggs and offspring often very vulnerable to predation. They walk steadily on strong legs and big toes, pecking for food as they go. Most prefer to run or walk over flying. They have long broad wings with "fingered" wingtips, and striking patterns in flight. Many have interesting mating displays, such as inflating throat sacs or elevating elaborate feathered crests. The female lays three to five dark, speckled eggs in a scrape in the ground, and incubates them alone.

Bustards are gregarious outside the breeding season, but are very wary and difficult to approach in the open habitats they prefer.

Status

Most species are declining or endangered through habitat loss and hunting, even where they are nominally protected. The last bustard in Britain died in approximately 1832, but the bird is being reintroduced through batches of chicks imported from Russia; two great bustard eggs were recently laid in Britain for the first time in over 150 years, but were unfertilized – probably owing to the still juvenile male population.

Floricans

Some Indian bustards are also called Floricans. The origin of the name is unclear. Thomas C. Jerdon writes in The Birds of India (1862)

I have not been able to trace the origin of the Anglo-Indian word Florikin, but was once informed that the Little Bustard in Europe was sometimes called Flanderkin. Latham gives the word Flercher as an English name, and this, apparently, has the same origin as Florikin.

— Jerdon's Birds of India, 2nd ed. ii. 625.

The Hobson-Jobson dictionary however casts doubt on this theory stating that

We doubt if Jerdon has here understood Latham correctly. What Latham writes is, in describing the Passarage Bustard, which, he says, is the size of the Little Bustard: Inhabits India. Called Passarage Plover. … I find that it is known in India by the name of Oorail; by some of the English called Flercher. (Suppt. to Gen. Synopsis of Birds, 1787, 229. Here we understand the English to be the English in India, and Flercher to be a clerical error for some form of floriken.

Species in taxonomic order

Species in taxonomic order

style="text-align:center; background:#Template:Otidiformes colour light;" colspan="6"|Species of Lissotis in TiF order <br 6 species
Lissotis Reichenbach, 1848	Black-bellied bustard	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status
Black-bellied Bustard Lissotis melanogaster (Rüppell, 1835)		File:Lissotis melanogaster dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Hartlaub's Bustard Lissotis hartlaubii (Heuglin, 1863)		File:Lissotis hartlaubii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Ardeotis	Heron-like bustard	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Nubian Bustard Ardeotis nuba		File:Ardeotis nuba dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Denham's Bustard Stanley's Bustard (A. d. stanleyi) Jackson's Bustard (A. d. jacksoni) Ardeotis denhami		File:Ardeotis denhami dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Ludwig's Bustard Ardeotis ludwigii		File:Ardeotis ludwigii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Heuglin's Bustard Ardeotis heuglinii		File:Ardeotis heuglinii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Arabian Bustard Ardeotis arabs		File:Ardeotis arabs dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori		File:Ardeotis kori dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps		File:Ardeotis nigriceps dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis		File:Ardeotis australis dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Tetrax	Little Bustard	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax		File:Tetrax tetrax dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Otis Linneaus, 1758	Great Bustard	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Great Bustard Otis tarda Linneaus, 1758		File:Otis tarda dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Chlamydotis	Houbara	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Houbara Bustard African Houbara Chlamydotis undulata		File:Chlamydotis undulata dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Macqueen's Bustard Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii		File:Chlamydotis macqueenii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Houbaropsis	Bengal Florican	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis		File:Houbaropsis bengalensis dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Sypheotides	Lesser Florican	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus		File:Sypheotides indicus dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Lophotis	Crested bustard	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Red-crested Korhaan Lophotis ruficrista		File:Lophotis ruficrista dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Savile's Bustard Lophotis savilei		File:Lophotis savilei dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Buff-crested Bustard Lophotis gindiana		File:Lophotis gindiana dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Heterotetrax	[[]]	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Little Brown Bustard Heterotetrax humilis		File:Heterotetrax humilis dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Rueppell's Korhaan / Rüppell's Korhaan Ruepell's Bustard / Rüppell's Bustard Heterotetrax rueppelii		File:Heterotetrax rueppelii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Karoo Korhaan Karoo Bustard Heterotetrax vigorsii		File:Heterotetrax vigorsii dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Afrotis	Black-korhaan	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Northern Black-Korhaan Afrotis afraoides		File:Afrotis afraoides dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Southern Black-Korhaan Afrotis afra		File:Afrotis afra dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
Eupodotis	[[]]	TiF
Species (author[s])	Common name(s)	Status	Image	Distribution map	Other links
Blue Korhaan Blue Bustard Eupodotis caerulescens		File:Eupodotis caerulescens dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]
White-bellied Bustard Eupodotis senegalensis		File:Eupodotis senegalensis dist-map.png [[File:{{{trendimage}}}|11x11px]] [[File:{{{statusimage}}}|200x100px]]

Notes

References

• Bota, Gerard, et al. Ecology and conservation of Steppe-Land birds. International Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land birds. Lynx Edicions 2005. 343 pages. ISBN 84-87334-99-7.
• File:Wikisource-logo.svg Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Bustard". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Knox, Alan G.; Martin Collinson, Andreas J. Helbig, David T. Parkin & George Sangster (2002). "Taxonomic recommendations for British birds". Ibis. 144 (4): 707–710. doi:10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00110.x. 
• Sibley, Charles G.; Jon E. Ahlquist (1990). Phylogeny and Classification of the Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04085-7. 

External links

• Bustard videos on the Internet Bird Collection