African Houbara (Chlamydotis undulata)

Other Names (World)
African Houbara, Houbara Bustard, Ruffed Bustard

Family
Otididae (Bustards)

Size
64 - 75 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Jacquin, 1784)

Habitat
Sandy and stony semi-desert, where trees are absent and both shrub cover and herb layer are sparse.

Range (Guide)

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.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

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.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files

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).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for African Houbara (Chlamydotis undulata) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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