Afghanistan (B) (P), Algeria (B), Armenia (NB), Azerbaijan (B) (NB), Bahrain (NB) (P), Bhutan (P), China (mainland) (B) (P), Egypt (B), India (NB) (P), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Iraq (B) (NB) (P), Israel (B), Jordan (B) (NB), Kazakhstan (B), Kuwait (P), Kyrgyzstan (B) (P), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (B), Mauritania (B), Mongolia (B), Morocco (B), Nepal (P), Oman (B) (NB) (P), Pakistan (B), Palestinian Authority Territories (NB), Qatar (NB), Russia (European) (B), Saudi Arabia (B) (NB) (P), Spain (B) (NB), Syrian Arab Republic (B) (NB) (P), Tajikistan (NB), Tunisia (B), Turkey (E) (B), Turkmenistan (B), United Arab Emirates (NB) (P), Uzbekistan (B) (P), Yemen (B) (NB).
Vagrant to Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon (P), Malta, Netherlands Antilles, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (Central Asian), Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Population
Estimated population is 49,000 - 62,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat loss and degradation caused by tourist facilities, off-road vehicles, military exercises, overgrazing, sand extraction, powerlines and road development, and collision with powerlines, possible nest predation by introduced mammals, and illegal hunting are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Invertebrates, small vertebrates and green shoots.
Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) [XC808830]
by Larbi Badaoui from Naama, Naama, Na\u00e2ma Province, Algeria (alarm call, cri de la femelle assise sur les \u0153ufs \u00f4 nids, apr\u00e8s une alerte)
Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) [XC644134]
by id from Naama, Naama, Na\u00e2ma Province, Algeria (alarm call)
Subspecies
Apparently close to Neotis. Recent work suggests that subspecies macqueenii might merit treatment as separate species.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
fuertaventurae (Rothschild & Hartert, 1894) - Eastern Canary Is.
undulata (Jacquin, 1784) - Northern Africa, east to north-central Egypt.
macqueenii (J. E. Gray, 1832) - Nile Valley of Egypt to Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Asian Houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii).