Reproduction

How does the Houbara bustard produce its young?

Egg laying will take place from March to June.

Males will gather at a courtship arena to mate. He will trot around the breeding ground with a ruff and crest of feathers raised. During the display they create their booming call.

A male may mate with multiple partners during the breeding season.

2-4 eggs are deposited in a scrape in the ground. Often the nest site is located near a bush to provide shade from the heat and some protection against predators. Their eggs are colored a pale olive-grey with mottled brown across it. Eggs are incubated for 23 days.

Within a few hours of the chicks hatching they will begin to move around with their mother.

The chicks can take their first flight by 30 days old but remain with their mother for up to three months.

Sexual maturity is reached between two and three years old.

Behavior

What does the Houbara bustard do with its day?

These birds are able to fly well but it is more common to see them on the ground where they perform much of their foraging.

They are active during the day. Much of their time is spent in search of food.

Credit: Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons

Predators and Threats

What is impacting the survival of the Houbara bustard?

Populations of the Houbara bustard are said to be in decline across their range. Estimates place their population at between 13,000 and 33,000 individuals. Recent indications are suggesting that the decrease may have stopped as a result of conservation efforts.

A subspecies is found exclusively on the Canary Islands with an estimated population of just 400 pairs. They are under threat from sand extraction and tourist development.

In parts of their range this species is threatened by hunting which may be performed using falcons. Emerging technologies such as firearms and other technology have increased the threat.

Other factors such as agricultural expansion, road construction and tourism development are causing widespread habitat loss.

Control programs for insects such as locusts can lead to poisoning.

A captive breeding program for this species has been initiated and is helping to restore this species in their habitat.

Quick facts

This species was first described for modern science in 1784.

They may also be known as the African houbara.

The MacQueen's of Asian Houbara was previously listead as a subspecies of this species but has since been elevated to full species status.